


Amnesia

by kalexah



Series: Amnesia AU [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette | Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Aged-Up Character(s), Amnesia, Angst, Baby, Car Accidents, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Depression, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Freeform, Hurt/Comfort, Marriage, Married Couple, Married Life, Pregnancy, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:35:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 31,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26416537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalexah/pseuds/kalexah
Summary: Marinette wakes up in a hospital to find out that she was in a car accident. To make things worse she has amnesia as a result and can't remember the last 10 years of her life. She now has to adapt to all the changes she missed out on... including her relationship with Adrien.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Bridgette/Félix Graham de Vanily, Luka Couffaine/Kagami Tsurugi
Series: Amnesia AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2158815
Comments: 89
Kudos: 355





	1. Retrograde Amnesia

She was lying on her back in an unfamiliar bed. For how long? She wasn’t sure. It must have been for some time because the background noise of people talking and the blurry figures moving around her seemed recently familiar. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut in an attempt to concentrate; the voices and movement did not seem to be immediately surrounding her as before and as her hand groped around the bed she was in, she couldn’t recognise it.

 _What the heck?_ she thought to herself. _Where am I?_ her thoughts were frustratingly slow in providing answers so she forced her eyes fully open instead.

 _Bright. Too bright_.

Her eyes squinted and watered reflexively just as she became more aware of her surroundings. There was a constant beeping noise that she noticed had been going on since she woke up. Before it sounded as if it was far away but now the sound became more focused. Tentatively, she slowly opened her eyes again.

 _Where the heck am I?_ Marinette took in her surroundings slowly, moving her head as little as possible because… well because it hurt like the dickens. Then realisation washed over her.

_I am in the hospital._

_Why am I here?! What happened?!_ The panic started to rise in her previously numb body which began to tingle with sensation and soreness.

Just then, a noise coming from her left startled her into further wakefulness. It was somebody entering her room. A split second of fear washed over her before she realised who it was.

“Hey, she’s awake again,” a tall blond man informed the nurse who let him in before her. “How are you feeling today?” he asked, addressing Marinette.

“Adrien!” Marinette croaked out. Her own voice sounded hoarse and foreign to her. Nevertheless, she visibly brightened at his familiar face. “What happened? Why am I here?”

“Oh wow!” the nurse exclaimed. “She seems to be more lucid than before! I’ll let the doctor know. You should continue to talk to her to see how coherent she is. But try not to tire her out too much, ‘kay?” The nurse soon bounded out of the room in search of the doctor, leaving Adrien and Marinette to themselves.

“How are you feeling today?” Adrien repeated his question with something akin to hope on his face.

“Tired, sore, confused. I have a really bad headache.” Marinette shot off as quickly as she could manage. She could tell something wasn’t right. She didn’t feel like she was all there. Even though her mind was becoming progressively less foggy, she still felt out of it.

“Do you remember what happened?” he asked, taking the chair next to her bed. She shook her head before realising that it was a bad idea.

“No,” she groaned, clutching her head. Adrien gave her a tired, yet sympathetic smile before taking her hands from her head, where she had begun to unconsciously fiddle with the bandages that were there. He leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “You were in an accident that put you in a coma, but you’re going to be okay. Everyone is going to be okay,” he whispered the last part in relief and gave her hands a gentle squeeze. His previous action didn’t even register with her as she began to slowly process things.

“H-how long was I out?” her stomach began to sink as she thought about how worried her friend was for her. Was she unconscious for hours? Days? Weeks? Her thoughts began to trickle in more quickly now.

“Just over two days,” was his response. She sighed in relief. Then another thought struck her which she immediately blurted out:

“Was it an akuma attack?” she then snapped her mouth shut in regret. _That was a stupid question! If it was an akuma attack then Ladybug’s healing power would have restored me, as far as he would know._

“No,” he shook his head, apparently not catching on to her ‘slip-up’. “It was a car accident.”

“Oh.” She lowered her gaze to her hands which still were in his. A small smile played on her lips. _That’s just like Adrien. Always there for his friends, always by their side to comfort them._ “I guess that makes more sense. Le Papillion usually tries to minimise lasting collateral damage in his attacks anyway,” she mumbled more to herself than to him

Immediately, something shifted in Adrien’s expression. It seemed confused then concerned.

“Marinette…,” he began before being cut off by the doctor.

“Madame Dupain-Cheng?” the doctor’s silvery voice preceded her entrance. “I’m Dr. Bulot. How are you feeling today?” Despite being asked the same question again, Marinette patiently repeated the answer she had given to Adrien a few moments ago. “I see.” She made a few scribbling notes on the clipboard she was carrying before speaking again. “I’ll ask Nurse Gene to give you something for that headache.” As if on cue, the nurse from before all but skipped back into the room in order to fulfill the doctor’s request.

“Adrien told me that I was in car accident but I don’t remember it.” Marinette piped up, hoping to hastily bring the doctor up to speed with what she knew. “I see,” Dr. Bulot murmured to herself again. “Can you tell me the last thing you remember then?” she patiently waited for Marinette to recall something. “I know your head is going to be a bit fuzzy right now, so take your time.”

Marinette nodded, grateful that the pain in her head was easing up. It let her think more clearly. However, she was drawing a blank when trying to recall her most recent memories. She clearly remembered her school days. She remembered Adrien, obviously. She even remembered her embarrassing crush on him. She remembered getting over said crush. She remembered becoming better friends with him. She also remembered her other friends: Alya, Nino, Luka, Kagami, Alix… She frowned slightly. She realised that all of the memories she managed to recall in that brief moment were of when they were younger, and she was quite sure that she was an adult now. Granted, it wasn’t that much she’d managed to reminisce on given that her brain was still far from operating at its normal processing speed, but still. She could sense that something was off.

“I can’t,” she started,” I don’t really remember.”

“That’s okay, dear.” Marinette calmed under the motherly tone of the doctor, despite the latter being in her late twenties to early thirties, at least she assumed, and not much older than her. “I suspect a slight case of retrograde amnesia, but hopefully it’s not permanent.”

“Amnesia?” Adrien interjected, concern laced in his tone. “But she recognised me right away.” He’d finally let go of her hands to address the doctor.

Dr. Bulot scribbled more notes on her clipboard, “that’s good,” she said in an encouraging tone. “We’ll just chat about you and your life to see how much you remember in general, okay? Now tell me about yourself.” Marinette tried to sit up higher (ignoring Adrien fussing over her) to face Dr. Bulot better. As she surveyed her, the first thing she noticed was her outfit. Her pale pink turtleneck barely stood out against her white lab coat, but complemented nicely with her deep, chocolate brown skin. Her long, elegant fingers aimlessly twirled a pen when they weren’t busy filling out the chart on her clipboard with illegible notes. Marinette noted that her nails were done in a simple French tip with a nude-pink polish. She also noticed that her lipstick was fuchsia and the rest of her makeup was done tastefully with different shades of pink that all worked well with each other. In general, she was impressed by her style.

“I like pink. It’s my favourite colour,” Marinette stated simply while Dr. Bulot beamed. “I’m into fashion and I want to become a designer,” she purposely omitted the “when I grow up” part because it felt out of place.

“Go on,” Dr. Bulot encouraged, looking up after briefly jotting down more notes. Marinette nodded, failing to notice Adrien frowning in concern.

“Umm, my parents own a bakery… my best friend is into journalism…” she trailed off and shrugged. She couldn’t think if anything else that to say from the top of her head. She couldn’t very well say, _Oh yeah, I’m also the heroine of Paris who saves the day with her cat-themed superhero partner in faux-leather from a crazy butterfly man who takes advantage of people’s negative emotions in order to trick them into fighting in his place for some magical jewellery in order to make some crazy wish which would alter reality…_

Her thoughts trailed off as she reflexively reached her right hand to fiddle with her earring... which wasn’t there! Her eyes widened in terror as the other hand flew to her other ear to realise that that earring was also missing.

“Where are my ear-where’s my jewellery?” she sputtered out in a panic. She felt a hand on her bandaged arm and turned her head to see Adrien smiling at her.

“Relax,” he assured her, “I have your jewellery.”

“You don’t understand. My earrings are- “

“Extremely important to you. I know,” he winked at her. “Trust me, I have them safe with me.”

“O-okay,” she managed to say. She couldn’t remember if she’d actually given her friends the “family heirloom” excuse as to why she never parted with her earrings, but she’d just have to trust Adrien and hope that Tikki was somewhere safe and unharmed from the accident.

“Yes, we had to remove your jewellery to do the CT scan. Normally we wouldn’t do the scan in your situation, but we thought it would be beneficial. And your husband gave us the go-ahead- “

“Wait, what?!” Marinette interrupted. “Husband? I’m married?” she exclaimed. “I don’t remember that!”

“I thought you said that she recognised you,” Dr. Bulot turned to address Adrien, who just looked hurt and sad.

“I mean she called my name as soon as I entered the room,” he began, “I didn’t realise that she wouldn’t remember that--,“ he trailed off.

“We’re married.” Marinette finished for him. “You,” she pointed at him, “and I,” she gestured at herself, “are married.” Adrien nodded. Marinette’s eyes wandered to the white-gold wedding band on his left hand, which she had previously mistaken for the plain silver ring he usually wore on his right.

“What do you remember about me? About us?” he took her hands in his again and gazed deeply into her blue eyes.

“We’re friends,” she offered weakly. A pretty blush now dusted her cheeks. She racked her brain to recall more of their friendship. They had become better friends when she got over her crush on him while he was dating Kagami.

_Kagami._

“You and Kagami broke up,” she involuntarily recalled aloud.

He nodded. “Is that all you remember, ma lady?” he prodded.

Marinette froze then narrowed her eyes at him.

 _No. Nope. Nuh-uh. There was no way. I already had enough surprises today, waking up in a hospital with amnesia to find out I’m married to my collège crush._ That would be too much if her suspicion was true. _Nope. It’s just not him._ She stubbornly concluded. _There was no way that…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Marinette was awake a few times before but she was still in the coma state before fully waking up now.  
> Adrien could tell something was up with Marinette by some little things she said.


	2. My Husband is my Partner

Dr. Bulot took control of the conversation again after the tense moment between Adrien and Marinette.

“I guess it’s my turn to do some talking,” she cleared her throat politely. “As you know, you were in a serious car accident.” Marinette nodded dazedly while Adrien ran his hands through his blond hair. “You were apparently making a left turn in an intersection when a car ran through the red light and t-boned your car.” Marinette’s eyes widened in surprise.

“The **[ _redacted_ ] **is being dealt with by the police.” Adrien grumbled, while Nurse Gene gave a mock gasp of surprise at his language. It served to lighten the mood a bit and Adrien gave a wry smile. “I’ve already called the insurance company and everything is taken care of. We won’t have to pay out of pocket and our premium won’t go up… by much,” he shrugged.

“Luckily, the driver had the sense to brake before impact which lessened the injuries you would have gotten. You have some scrapes and bruises, etc., but the main injury is the head trauma.” Dr. Bulot moved her clipboard to under her arm so that she could gesture with her hands. “You see, because the car hit you from the side, your body was flung to the side and caught by the seatbelt, but your head smacked against your window,” Adrien and Marinette winced, “and wasn’t caught by the airbag in time. This resulted in a small skull fracture and some brain damage.” She retrieved the CT scan photos to show to the couple.

“Thankfully that seems to be the extent of the major damage, and miraculously, the baby was completely unharmed.” The photos abruptly fell from Marinette’s hands.

“Merde!” she cursed. “Adrien, don’t tell that there was a kid with me in that car!” her anxious gaze was met with stunned silence. Finally, it was Nurse Gene who took her hand in her own, looked her dead in the eye and spoke up:

“Dearie, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but—you’re pregnant.”

There was a beat.

Marinette’s brow was furrowed in confusion as her free hand made her way to her stomach. What she found thoroughly freaked her out. Instead of her usual flat stomach with pretty well-sculpted Ladybug abs, she found a slightly rounded belly, full of precious life.

And that was when she passed out.

*

When she had awoken, Dr. Bulot and Nurse Gene stayed for a little while longer dealing with more standard medical checks before leaving Marinette and Adrien alone.

Thankfully, a videocall with her parents (who were in China until the next month) and a phone call to Alya and Nino (who were also travelling) took up some of the time before they were left in complete silence.

“So,” she spoke up after a while, “you and me, huh?” She chuckled awkwardly as her eyes casted down towards where her hand was cradling her stomach ever since she woke up again.

“Yeah,” Adrien replied numbly, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, which was a nervous tick for him.

“And I’m halfway through this pregnancy already,” Marinette mused aloud. After hearing that she 20 weeks along, she was surprised that her baby bump wasn’t bigger. She guessed that all those years of being Ladybug rewarded her with a well-toned body with strong abdominals. “Do we know if it’s a boy or a girl?”

“A boy,” Adrien couldn’t help flushing with pride. Marinette gave a small smile while she stroked her stomach with her hand. Adrien resisted the urge to rub her stomach as well, unsure of how she would react to the sudden intimate gesture. He inwardly sighed, it would just have to be one of the many things they would have to talk about before he took her home in a few days. But for now, he thought that she’d had enough surprises for the day and it would be best to let the conversation flow naturally.

“So, is it Hugo or Louis?” she asked now rubbing comforting circles on her tummy.

“Hugo,” Adrien was surprised and well pleased that she remembered those names.

“I guess I must’ve told you all about my teenage fantasies then, hehe?” Marinette nervously laughed while a blush spread across her cheeks.

“You sure did, Bugaboo,” Adrien chuckled.

Marinette started.

“How did – why did you -- what did you call me?” Marinette stumbled over words.

“What? Bugaboo?” Marinette’s eyes were as wide as saucers now. “Is there something else wrong ma lady?” Marinette’s jaw was slightly open at this point. Adrien furrowed his eyebrows in confusion before it struck him. _Amnesia. She doesn’t remember that I’m…_

“You’re Chat Noir,” she whispered. All Adrien could do at this point was nod. As if on cue, a small black blob popped out Adrien’s jacket pocket.

“Adrieeeeennn,” it whined. “You said you’ll tell when we’re alone as soon as everyone left!”

“Plagg!” Marinette exclaimed. She held out her hands for Plagg to settle in them.

“Marinette!” he cried out, “I heard everything. I-I’m so sorry,” he said dropping his voice.

Marinette’s expression softened as she brought Plagg closer to kiss his forehead, despite knowing that he preferred hugs or ear scratches. Thankfully she clearly remembered that she was now the Guardian of the Miraculous Box and during the first couple of months immediately after Miracle Queen, she had dedicated a lot of time to getting to know all the kwamis better, especially Plagg.

Marinette’s heart ached when her mind passed on one kwami in particular.

“Where’s Tikki? I- I really need her now,” her voice trembled.

“Oh, yes! Right!” Adrien quickly rooted through his pockets and handed her a baggie with jewellery. There were her earrings, currently dangerously conspicuous having reverted to their red and black spotted form, her kwagatama, and a bracelet locket and wedding ring set which she didn’t recognise.

She immediately put on her earrings and squinted her eyes at the flash that occurred when TIkki reappeared. Plagg silently flew out of her hands to give TIkki room, and settled on her stomach, which was his new favourite spot since the pregnancy. He automatically splayed out and began waving his arms and legs around on her tummy like he was making snow angels.

“Marinette!” Tikki chirped.

“Tikki!” Marinette kissed Tikki before bursting out in tears.

“Oh, Marinette,” Tikki cooed as she nuzzled up to her face, stroking her bandaged head.

“It’s just so much is happening right now, TIkki.” She said hiccupping. “I’m not sure how to process everything.”

“Shh, everything will work out in the end,” her kwami soothed. “We’ll all figure this out together.”

Plagg, who usually is hard pressed to leave his favourite spot, now flew over to Adrien who was dejectedly slouched in his chair, staring straight ahead.

“You okay, kid?” he asked, being the (sometimes) perceptive little bugger that he is.

“Yeah… No. I don’t know? Not really?” Adrien shrugged, trying to stop the frustrated tears that now threatened to spill over.

“I’m sorry, Adrien,” Marinette spoke up, wiping her face, “I know that this is hard for you too.” Adrien took her right hand in his, while he placed his free hand on her stomach because… well darn it he’s her husband.

“ _Never_ apologise for this,” he said emphatically. “It wasn’t your fault. TIkki is right, we’ll figure this out together.” His gazed tenderly in her eyes while he stroked her stomach with his thumb. Marinette felt her cheeks burn and her urge to ramble take over.

“W-well, o-of course! Yes! You’re right. It’s just that its not everyday I wake up in a hospital and find out I’ve lost a chunk of my memory, only to be told that I’m married, and not only that, but also that my husband is my partner, who’s child I’m pregnant with…” Adrien snorted at her antics. Hoping to little the mood further, Marinette continued:

“Next thing you’ll tell that le Papillion surrendered his miraculous and is now in jail.”

_Whoops_.

Marinette could visibly see the mood in the small room sour. Several wordless moments passed before a terse whisper coming from Plagg, who was now perched on Adrien’s shoulder, broke the silence.

“ _Tell her!_ ”

“What?” Marinette asked. She turned more to Adrien and was surprised to catch a hint of a scowl on his face before he turned his head away from her. “What’s going on?” she asked after several more moments of silence passed.

“Le Papillion _is_ in jail,” he said tightly. “However, he didn’t give up his miraculous and it somehow got into the hands of a new villain who calls herself La Farfella.”

Marinette nodded slowly as she took this new information in, her heart sinking for Nooroo. Suddenly, a new thought took over.

“Who was le Papillion?” No response.

“Adrien?” He turned away from her even more.

“ _Adrien_.” He started to remove his hands from her.

“Adrien!” she caught his hands firmly as he whipped his head around to face her. Her expression was patient despite her previously exasperated tone.

“Who was le Papillion?” she repeated in a softer voice.

Adrien gulped. _This was another thing that’s going to be different_. He suddenly realised that the days of pretending that this issue didn’t exist and Marinette letting him get away with it to spare his feelings were over. Maybe this was a good thing? This is what his therapist wanted, right?

“My father,” he choked out. “Le Papillion was my father.” He hung his head at the weight of the full admission.

“Oh, mon pauvre chaton.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plagg is only sometimes perceptive because he missed a WHOLE peacock miraculous and the grimoire in Volpina. I mean I know that it was in camouflage mode but still.  
> Over the years, Adrien has become closed off whenever le Papillion or his family comes up. Marinette has gotten into the habit of avoiding the topic to spare his feelings which isn’t the best thing to do all the time. Since she’s lost her memory of this dynamic, she’s going to insist that Adrien open up more to her which he’s going to resent initially but eventually conclude that it’s for the best.  
> We all know who La Farfella is, don’t we? I decided to go this route based on the clues given in Timetagger. Also, the thing that stuck out to me about that episode is that poor Nooroo can’t catch a break.


	3. Conversations

They had a lot to talk about. And over the following few days of Marinette’s hospital stay, that was exactly what they did. _Talk._

They discussed where she would be staying after she was discharged. She insisted she’d stay with him in his, sorry, _their_ apartment. After all, she was his wife. Even though she couldn’t remember it, she had made choice to marry him. And at the very least, he wasn’t a stranger: he was one of her closest friends _and_ her partner. She trusted him. However, she was relieved when he had suggested she stay in the other bedroom until she was more comfortable. He hastily added that they wouldn’t even think about discussing intimacy until after the baby was born. She breathed a sigh of relief at that.

The harder conversations were about their miraculouses, le Papillon and La Farfella. Adrien managed to dodge talking about it by claiming that he’d prefer somewhere more private to discuss those sensitive topics, so they would wait until they were home. Marinette conceded, but the determined glint in her eye made Adrien know that she would definitely not let it drop. He gulped at that. However, he had managed to point out that the dynamic with la Farfella was different. She didn’t waste time with the almost daily akumas like le Papillon did. Her attacks were more spaced out, but more complicated, often involving several non-akuma elements in the mix. Since the last akuma was a few days before the accident, there was unlikely to be another one before she left the hospital.

They also talked about their careers. Marinette was a little surprised to find out that he had become a physics professor, but when Adrien told her the story of how he had fallen in love with teaching while being a university TA, she could see that he had no regrets about his life choice. She loved the way he talked about his classroom experience – and his favourite part was the one on one time he spent with struggling students helping them understand difficult concepts.

For her, apparently, she did become a designer, owning her own little boutique, with two full-time employees working with her. However, she’d fretted over how the amnesia would affect this. Even though she had a great deal of previous knowledge from before when the memory loss started, she felt like all the things she gained via experience and from university (unsurprisingly she had studied fashion design and business management) was lost. In the end, they (mostly Marinette) worked out that she could use her sick leave and then maternity leave to study her previous course notes and diaries to bring her up to speed as much as possible. Adrien preferred she rest, but she was stubborn.

“Diaries! That’s it, Adrien!” she exclaimed. He looked at her in confusion before catching on. “I used to keep a diary when I was younger and when—,“ she understandably hesitated before dropping her voice, “when Master Fu transferred the guardianship to me, I became obsessed with keeping a meticulous record of everything that was happening in my life.”

“Yeah,” Adrien replied quietly with a slight strain in his voice, “I know.”

Marinette coloured, wondering if she had hit a sore spot in their relationship.

“Are you hoping that reading them will jog your memory?” he asked. Marinette shook her head then shrugged.

“I don’t know, maybe? That was never the point of them. I just hoped that I could relearn as much as I could from reading them, ya know?” He nodded in understanding.

“You know you can always ask me anything,” he said before immediately wishing that he hadn’t. This was basically an open invitation to ask about his father, and he really didn’t want to talk about that.

“I know, chaton,” she smiled at him. He tentatively reached for her hand, still unsure about how much physical contact she would be comfortable with, and gave her a small smile. She returned his smile and placed her hand in his, giving it a squeeze. _This was okay. They were going to be okay. Somehow._

Even during her, thankfully, short stay at the hospital, she had learned a bit from just by talking to Adrien. She found out that she had lost about 10 years of memories due to the accident. (Adrien’s face darkened and muttered more unsavoury words about the reckless driver whenever the accident was brought up.) She also discovered that she was 27 and that they had been married for almost four years. To her surprise they had eloped first, then held a formal ceremony a little while after. Adrien showed her the wedding photos on his phone as a ruse to avoid explaining why they had eloped in the first place. He had, however, hinted that it fell under the “sensitive topics” that they would deal with when they were at home. She nodded and started to gush over the photos.

“Oohhh, is that my dress?” she hijacked his phone to zoom into the pale-pink gown. “It’s so pretty,” she cooed.

“I thought so too.” He responded dreamily reminiscing on the day, “You looked absolutely stunning in it. Nino had to support me at the alter because my knees were giving out.” A light blush spread across her cheeks which made him want to fluster her more. “It was an original design, made by one of the most beautiful, talented designers in Paris. Heck, in the whole world.”

Her blush deepened and she giggled as she continued to scan through the photos. He leaned against the metal sides of her hospital bed with his chin in his hands to look at the photos with her. She paused when she reached the end of the wedding pictures and he gave her a brief nod to continue looking through the other photos. He had nothing to hide and he enjoyed this personal time with her.

The rest of the pictures were (unsurprisingly) of them together – relaxing in the park, on dates with each other or at one of the many tourist spots in Paris. She noted that he was wearing glasses in some of them. She saw a couple of candid (read embarrassing) shots of her, either engrossed in a sewing project, stuffing her face with food or sleeping with her mouth open. Okay, maybe he did have something to hide.

“Hey!” she exclaimed indignantly at one particular shot. She was sleeping on what she assumed was their couch with the television on in the background. Adrien was sitting next to her posed as if he were going to throw popcorn in her open mouth. The laughter bubbled out of him naturally.

“Tikki took that shot,” Marinette pouted and glared at her traitorous kwami who had retreated to Adrien’s shoulder giggling. “It was Plagg’s idea though.”

The dual combo of her ‘pout ‘n glare’ was directed to the black kwami reposing on her stomach. He had lazily opened one eye at the mention of his name, but hastily shut it as he saw Marinette’s face.

“I’m sleeping,” he mumbled. Marinette resisted the urge to swat him off her stomach and continued looking at the pictures.

There was a couple of them at the beach and a few of them at a fancy dinner event.

“How come there’s just us in these photos,” she asked.

“Because this is my ‘Just us’ folder,” he replied simply. “I doubt you would be interested in pics of my physics problems that I have to solve, or the selfies Plagg takes with his cheese, even though he doesn’t show up in any of them,” he rolled his eyes.

“They’re works of art,” a mumble came from on top of Marinette stomach, at which the others laughed.

Marinette continued swiping before coming across a more intimate photo of the two of them. It was another sneak photo of her sleeping with her mouth open but it was obvious that they were in bed together. She was tangled up unceremoniously in the sheets with her hair in a messy halo around her head and was wearing an unrecognised Chat Noir-themed pyjama set – a black tank top with a giant green paw print in the middle and neon green shorts with tiny black pawprints all over them. Adrien was lying next to her, shirtless. He was holding the phone out with one arm and the other was tucked under his head in an exaggerated sexy-model pose, which he managed to pull off pretty well despite his messy bed hair and his ridiculous duck lips.

Marinette could feel her face flush as bright red as the ladybug-themed boxers he was wearing in the photo. She snuck a quick glance over at him. He was still leaning on the metal edge of her bed as was looking at the picture with The Soft LookTM.

“Do you always take picture of me sleeping?” she tried to use her Ladybug voice, but he snorted.

“Only when you look adorable like that, Bugaboo. Which is all the time.” She scowled at him, remembering that he was also her mischievous partner. “I’m sure when you go through your phone, you’ll find embarrassing shots of me too.” (Much later on she would find a folder entitled “Adrien Blackmail” on her phone). For the time being she continued browsing through the album.

“Oh,” she said softly when she came across the next set of photos and videos. She was in a ladybug-theme underwear set (seriously, what was with the themed clothing!) and was standing next to a bulletin board near a kitchen area with a big white paper tacked to it. The paper said “5 weeks” in a fancy calligraphy font. In the video, she was posing from the front and sides before she did a little jig around herself, with her arms around her stomach.

In the next couple of videos, she was in the same position but the number of weeks kept changing on the board while her growing stomach become more visible. In one of the videos there was a second paper marked “end of first trimester” and Adrien had joined her in doing the jig, before it ended with him leaning down to kiss her.

After going through that particular round of photos Adrien was worried that she was made uncomfortable by the whole thing.

“Ma lady? Are you okay?” Marinette took some time before she responded.

“That was --,” she still was processing things, “that was really cute.”

“Yeah,” he chuckled. His arm went to rub that infernal spot on his neck. “It was Alya’s idea.”

“Not surprising,” she murmured rolling her eyes, “I think I’d like to continue that,” she said quietly while Adrien gave her The Soft LookTM. “But maybe with more clothes on,” she quickly added.

“What, it’s not like I haven’t seen everything already,” Adrien shot off dryly. Too late he’d realised what he said and clapped his hand over his mouth. He could basically hear the steam coming out of Marinette’s ears and didn’t need to turn around to look at her to know that her face was beet red.

Before he could sputter out an apology for making her feel weird, a cackle came from on top her stomach.

“You two really are meant for each other. Both hot messes,” Plagg wheezed between laughs. The other joined in his laughter which served to ease the awkwardness a bit.

When everyone had settled down, Marinette swiped back at the photo of them in bed together.

“Are we happy, chaton?” she asked softly, her eyes never leaving the phone screen. “Are we happy together, as a married couple?”

“Yes,” he said after a while, “I’d like to think so. Sure, we hit rough patches and difficulties here and there like regular couples. And, because we’re us,” the implication of what he really meant was not lost on her, “we deal with stuff that regular couples don’t have to. But we always get through it in the end. So, I’d say that we’re pretty happy.” She smiled at this. “After all, it’s you and me against the world.”

“As always.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These conversations don’t all take place in one day but over several days throughout her hospital stay.  
> Just letting you know from now that I’m very lazy and won’t go into detail about describing akuma attacks. Sorry.  
> Was originally planning on this to be just a small beginning part of the next chapter but it has expanded to be something on its own. So it's basically filler.


	4. Visitors pt 1

Marinette was excited. Well, as excited as one could be in her situation. Her stomach was fluttering, which puzzled her. Sure, she was happy that some of her friends would be visiting in the next couple of days, but why would that make her nervous? It was Plagg who first realised what was happening.

“What the --,” he started from his spot. He then placed his paw on another area of her stomach before calling out, “Marinette! The baby is kicking!”

“Really?” Marinette was honestly a bit freaked out by it, still not having got used to the whole married-to-Chatdrien-Noirgreste-and-pregnant-with-his-child thing. Still, she moved her hand to where Plagg was indicating and felt it. The ‘butterflies’ in her stomach were just Hugo’s tiny kicks.

“Adrien! Adrien!” her hand shot out to wake her husband who had dozed off in the chair next to her.

“Wha’happen?” he murmured groggily. (Marinette suspected that he wasn’t getting enough sleep at home). Tikki, who had also fallen asleep on his shoulder, opened her eyes and blinked blearily at her.

“The baby is kicking!” Adrien’s eyes shot open as she placed his hand to the spot while Tikki flew over. Tears started to prick in his eyes as he felt the tiny sensations against his hand.

“That was something,” he breathed out in awe when it stopped, wiping his eyes.

“Honestly, it was a bit weird,” Marinette responded sheepishly. “It just cements the fact that this is all real. That there is a tiny human growing inside me,” she shrugged, “it’s gonna take some getting used to.”

Adrien nodded in understanding. Just then, his phone chimed and he quickly checked the message.

“Well, that’s not the only thing you have to get used to. A lot has changed with out friends and family in the past 10 years, and I wished I had time to tell you all of it.” She looked at him questioningly.

“Look alive, Bug, ‘cause you’ve got visitors.”

*

“Kagami just messaged me saying she on her way up now. Oh, and Luka said that he might stop by later as well, but he’s coming straight back from being on tour so he probably won’t stay for super long,” Adrien briefed his wife, trying not to smirk as he left out a few details about their friends in order to see her reaction. She simply nodded. They barely had time to warn Plagg to keep out of trouble as he zipped out to go hospital-exploring with Tikki behind him, when Kagami burst through the door.

“Marinette!” The fencer quickly approached her to give her a hug. “I heard what that bastard driver did to you. He will not go unpunished,” she vowed clenching her fist and scowling.

“It’s okay, Kagami. Or – at least it will be.” Marinette placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder. Kagami nodded and her expression softened. She turned to give a quick greeting to Adrien.

“I’m glad that you and the baby are fine though. Well, mostly fine,” she added quietly.

“Yeah.”

“The baby was kicking earlier today!” Adrien chimed in excitedly. Kagami blinked at him.

Marinette laughed at the expression Kagami wore. “I know, I felt that way at first because everything feels so new and weird to me. But I can’t help feeling excited as well. It’s like I’ve found myself plunged in the middle of a new adventure.” Kagami gave her a wistful smile.

They chatted for a while, as Marinette tried to gather as much about her friend’s life as she could form their conversation. Apparently, she had just rushed over from fencing practice, as evidenced by her outfit, where she was the instructor. Marinette took in her new outfit which was not unlike the red one she wore in her school days. This one had more black accents while still giving off the intimidating aura that the previous held. After a while, Kagami eventually excused herself to use the washroom and Marinette turned to Adrien.

“She’s changed a bit from what I last remember,” she remarked. Adrien turned to her questioningly. “She seems more open in expressing her true feelings and she seems a bit gentler as well.”

 _Hmm. I guess a certain someone took some edge off her,_ Adrien thought mischievously.

“I guess those changes were so gradual I didn’t notice them right away,” he remarked aloud. Marinette nodded in silence, still trying to reconcile her intact memories with her recent observations.

“By the way, I noticed a ring on left hand. Is she married?” Marinette questioned.

“Yeah,” Adrien tried to hide his disappointment that he probably wouldn’t be able to see her reaction to the scenario he had hoped to unfold today. Marinette was about to question him further before she was interrupted by Luka entering the room, with his signature guitar case slung over his shoulder.

“Hey, Marinette,” he greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. “Adrien,” he turned to give the blond man a hug.

Marinette’s mood brightened even more with Luka’s entrance. As they all chatted together Adrien’s mind flashed back to when he had tried to subtly ascertain what Marinette’s memories were of her relationship with Luka. He realised in hindsight that it was unnecessary, because if she remembered he and Kagami breaking up, then she definitely remembered her and Luka splitting as well, which had happened sometime before.

Just then, Kagami returned from the bathroom and Adrien got to watch the scene before him unfold with a satisfied smirk.

“Hey. You’re back already,” she addressed Luka, as she made her way over to them.

“Yeah, I came here straight from the airport,” Luka replied. He adjusted the case strap on his shoulder with one hand while the other slinked around her waist as he bent over to press a lingering kiss to her lips. He left his hand on her waist and used it to pull her into a half-hug which she graciously returned. A serene expression had replaced her neutral one as she rested her head and hand against his chest for a brief moment.

Marinette felt her open mouth being shut by Adrien from when she went slack-jawed when she observed the couple’s interaction. Her eyes were wide open in surprise as they turned from the couple’s conversing before her and looked at her own husband as if searching for answers.

Adrien affectionately chucked her under her chin before raising his finger to his lips and winking at her.

 _He purposely didn’t tell me anything so that he could see my reaction!_ She thought. _Naughty kitty._ She turned her attention back to her friends, who had, thankfully, not noticed her reaction.

“How did you get here?”

“I took the bus.”

Kagami wrinkled her nose.

“Public transport? With suitcases? You could’ve called for me to pick you up.”

Luka shrugged, “It wasn’t so bad.”

“Whatever. You’re taking a shower as soon you get home to off scrub all the ‘travelling’ from you.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Luka rolled his eyes good naturedly with a smile.

“Wait—where _are_ your suitcases?”

“Outside the room.”

Kagami facepalmed, “Those were _yours_? You can’t just leave them there unguarded!”

Marinette’s initial surprise shifted to amusement at the couple’s banter. As she continued to watch them, she realised that Luka had changed a bit as well. Physically, he still kept the blue tips in his hair which had grown out a lot since adolescence, similar to Adrien’s (though in the case of the latter she suspected that he hadn’t bothered getting a good haircut in a while with all that was happening). Also, she also noticed the beginnings of tattoos which started at his wrists and disappeared under his shirt sleeves. Personality wise, he seemed livelier as well, as he interacted with them (especially Kagami!) while somehow still maintaining a laid-back aura.

“I’m sorry to cut this visit short, you two, but I should get this one home and cleaned up,” Kagami spoke up, jabbing her thumb at Luka.

They said their goodbyes as Luka’s hand shifted from Kagami’s waist to her back to gently lead her out of the room. Marinette watched them leave the room still a bit surprised.

“See, the bags are still here,” she heard Luka comment.

“That’s because they’re so old nobody wants to steal them. We need to get you a new luggage set.” Marinette scooted to edge of the hospital bed to where she could just barely see Kagami outside of the doorway.

“Nah,” she only heard Luka’s laissez-faire reply. “If I get a new set, they’d be more tempting to steal.” Kagami narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips.

“Okay, okay,” he relented. “As you wish, Ojou-sama.” Marinette could basically picture his teasing face.

Kagami blushed before moving out of Marinette’s view. After a few moments of silence, Marinette turned to Adrien who looked like he was stifling from having to hold in his laughter at her reaction.

“What the heck just happened?” she finally asked. Adrien finally released his laughter.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m really happy for them, but I did _not_ expect that,” she continued.

“Oh man, your reaction was just as good this time around as the first time,” he said, making a show of wiping away his tears. Marinette puffed out her cheeks at him in mock annoyance.

“Glad I can be used as your entertainment,” she muttered. “Anyways, just for that, you’re tasked with filling me in on the deets,” she said, her tone changing to channel her inner Alya. “Remind me how they got together.”

Adrien sobered up but still kept his bright expression as he helped Marinette settle back into the bed. The last couple of days have been a whirlwind of emotional struggles and he was sure that more hardships awaited them in the future. He was glad at the opportunity for levity that Lukagami provided.

“Okay, so coincidentally Luka and Kagami happened to go to the same university,” he started his tale as Marinette eagerly leaned forward to listen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adrien: The baby was kicking  
> Kagami: 😐  
> This was and the next chapter(s) were supposed to be one but stuff happens I guess.  
> So a bit of a caveat: 1) I have ships that appear in my head for no rhyme or reason and I just latch on to them... so some of that is gonna leak out into this story. 2) I have many ideas (again in my head) about how the lives of the characters are going about in this fic but I can't really include them so there will be some threads in the story that I don't seem to pick up on. That is because they can potentially be made into other fic(s). However, as much as I'd like to write down everything to build a little AU, grad school says naw.


	5. Visitors pt 2

“Guess what, Bug?” Adrien turned to Marinette excitedly.

“What?” she questioned, immediately interested. She lowered the fashion magazine that she was reading to peer up at him.

She knew that her hospital stay was drawing to a close and was grateful for it, because truthfully, despite all the things that were flung at her upon first waking up, she was getting a bit bored. Being restricted to a bed and a few short hallway walks was not fun at all. And even though she was a little nervous about returning home with Adrien, she longed to go out roaming the streets of Paris again, or even join Tikki and Plagg on one of their hospital adventures, or to finally have a heart-to-heart with Adrien about the their situation (she could tell that he was putting off the conversation about his father for as long as possible).

“Nino and Alya just got back from their trip and they’re stopping by as soon as they land!” Adrien literally beamed sunshine at her in his excitement. “They should be here in a few minutes!” Marinette perked up at this news.

Both husband and wife could barely contain their impatience for their respective best friends’ arrival and hardly gave their kwamis a proper warning about staying hidden when they zipped out, yet again, to tour another section of the hospital. Soon enough, Alya burst through the door to greet the couple.

“Marinette! Girl, how are you doing?” Alya rushed in to hug her friend.

“Aly—ah?” Marinette could barely hide the surprise her voice as her friend wrapped her arms around her. She soon recovered to hug Alya, _all_ of Alya. Apparently, Adrien ‘forgot’ to mention another important detail about another friend: Alya was also pregnant. _Very_ pregnant. Like ready to pop at any given moment pregnant. Marinette shot a withering glance at Adrien over Alya’s shoulder, which he returned with an infuriating wink.

Alya finally withdrew from the hug to give Adrien his own Alya-hug which he gratefully accepted.

“I’m guessing from your reaction that Buttercup didn’t tell you that I was pregnant too?” she smirked.

“You should have seen her reaction to Luka and Kagami before!” Adrien laughed at the same time that Marinette squeaked out:

“Shh, Alya! Don’t call him that!” Both Adrien and Alya laughed at her reddening features.

“If it’s about Operation Secret Garden, he already knows.” That didn’t help Marinette’s embarrassment at all. “Besides, nothing is hidden between married couples, right?” Alya wiggled her eyebrows at her. Marinette felt a sudden urge to change the conversation topic.

“So how far along are you?” she questioned, genuinely curious. Alya gratefully accepted the seat Adrien offered her before responding.

“I am 37 weeks and half-tempted to scoot you out of your bed so that I can give birth now and get it over with,” she sighed, rubbing her belly. Marinette smiled at her friend and for once it felt a bit like old times. She felt the passage of time that had taken place between her teenage years and now, however, the events that took place then were forever lost in an insurmountable blackhole. But her being there with Alya and Adrien, and soon Nino, reminded her that even though the circumstances have changed a lot over the years, the four of them would always be there for each other. Alya’s voice soon roused her from her thoughts.

“I still can’t believe that irresponsible **[ _redacted_ ]**,” she shook her head in disgust, “he has the nerve to complain about whiplash, while you’re in here--,” she couldn’t finish as her voice broke. Adrien quickly handed her a tissue, placing a hand on her shoulder while swallowing several times to avoid breaking down himself. Marinette lowered the metal guard on her bed so that she could perch on the edge to face her friend better.

“Alya, look at me,” Alya’s hazel eyes met Marinette’s blue eyes, “I’m here. Baby is here. We are both going to be okay.” Alya nodded through her tears as Marinette continued, “yes, this situation is tough, but I have all of you here with me so I know I’m going to be taken care of, and it’s all going to be okay,” she gave Adrien a significant look and he smiled at her with the beginning of tears glistening in his eyes.

“Oh, girl,” Alya smiled and wrapped them all in a big group hug. Just then, Nino walked into the room carrying a small girl on his hip.

“Is there room for two more in the group hug?” Everyone’s smiles grew bigger as they all embraced.

After they all separated, Marinette looked in curiously at the child Nino was holding. She was very young, obviously not a toddler but closer to being four or five year’s old. She had warm caramel-toned skin and a slender face which was peppered with freckles. She looked up at her father blinking her immensely cute green eyes at him and sucking her thumb. At a second glance, Marinette realised that her eyes were puffy and red, as if she had been recently crying.

“Sorry I took so long to join you guys here,” Nino apologised. “Alya basically bolted out of the car before I even stopped, and I had to calm Nala down.” He gently coaxed her thumb out of her mouth while shifting her weight in his arms.

“See, Nala,” he repeated her name for Marinette’s benefit, “Auntie Netta is alright. There’s no need to cry anymore.” Marinette felt her heart ache at the little girl’s concern for her.

Nala turned her head at Marinette who in turn gave her a big smile as if to assure the young child that she was alright.

“So that means that the **[ _redacted_ ]** can’t hurt her anymore?” she questioned innocently, just as Nino was setting her down. The room went silent for a moment while the shocked adults gaped at her. After a while Marinette and Adrien both tried to hide their amusement by either turning their heads or covering their smiles, while Nino glared at his sheepish wife.

“Kids say the darndest things?” Alya weakly proffered with her shoulders by her ears.

“Any other choice words you’d like to teach our five-year old, Alya?” he chided in response. Without waiting for an answer, he kneeled down to gently reprimand his daughter, correcting her on her word choice and promising to have a ‘talk’ with mommy on her word choice as well when they got home.

When it looked like Nala might start crying again Marinette decided to distract the young girl’s attention.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” she beckoned the child to sit next to her on the bed, “I’m fine and doing better since you all came to see me. You being here makes me really happy.”

“Really?” Nala sniffed. Marinette nodded and opened her arms for a hug which Nala graciously returned. Marinette noticed that she had experience hugging pregnant women, for although the child gave her a bear hug (not too unlike an Alya-hug) she was still mindful of her slightly bulging stomach.

Not too long after the hug was broken, Nala found herself back into her father’s arms and started exhibiting signs of sleepiness. After a several more minutes of catching up, their visitors took their leave to recover from their long journey back home.

“It was so nice that they stopped to visit--,” Adrien started before he was cut off by Marinette lightly swatting his chest with the rolled-up magazine.

“You could have told me that Alya was pregnant,” _swat_ , “and you could have told me that they already had a daughter,” _swat_ , “just as easily as you could have told that Luka and Kagami were married,” _final swat_.

“You aren’t actually mad are you, Bugaboo?” he laughed.

“No…,” she pouted. “I guess it was kinda fun finding out for myself all the changes that have happened.” Adrien leaned in smirking.

“Now that that’s over, I promise to give you ample warning about any other major events in out friend’s lives.”

“Deal!”

After a brief pause, Marinette spoke up again.

“I have a few questions though.” Adrien quirked his eyebrow at her. “Is Nala adopted?” she questioned, remembering how she didn’t resemble any of her parents or extended family. Adrien nodded.

“Not too long after university, Alya was offered a documentary gig about the present-day effects of France’s treatment of Haiti after their independence. Nino coincidentally was hired on as the director.”

“Was that how they got back together?” Marinette questioned, recalling the not-so-fun breakup that their friends went through during lycée. Adrien nodded.

“They returned from Haiti married, with a child and an award-winning documentary,” Adrien abridged the account. Marinette’s eyes widened. She would definitely need Alya to retell that story to her soon.

All of a sudden, their attention was diverted to the door where someone had just entered.

“I hope this is a good time for me to stop by,” a familiar voice spoke up.

“Alix!” Marinette and Adrien exclaimed in unison.

“Sorry for not giving a heads up. It was a last-minute decision to come here,” she said. “So, who do I need to strangle again?”

“Get in line,” Adrien muttered. Just then the kwamis returned from their adventuring. Marinette felt a rush of panic before it subsided when she remembered that Alix already knew her identity.

“Hey, Alix,” they greeted redhead. “Where’s Fluff?”

“Sleeping in my pocket,” she answered. “We just came back from a pretty bizarre adventure with multiple versions of ourselves and—, well it doesn’t matter. You’ll find out soon in the future.” Adrien and Marinette exchanged quizzical glances with each other before shrugging. Nurse Gene came in soon after that to inform them that visiting hours were over.

After Alix left, Marinette turned to question Adrien, “So, what surprising facts about Alix I should know?” Both of them were left alone in the room, waiting for Dr. Bulot to see them, with a sleeping Tikki and Plagg who were tuckered out after their hospital adventuring.

“Hmmm, nothing I can think of at the moment,” he pondered tapping his chin. “Well, maybe who she’s married to, or rather the reason they got married.”

“Huh, I didn’t realise she was married as well. The ring is probably hidden by the finger gloves, or she just doesn’t bother to wear one. Who did she marry?”

“Yeah,” he shrugged. “I mean the story is nothing scandalous or anything, but she actually married Nathaniel to help him out with something.”

Marinette’s surprise was cut short by Dr. Bulot entering the room with the news that she would be able to return home the next day, thus leaving another story queued up for later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An Alya-hug is the type of hug that eases out the sorrow in your soul for a brief moment.   
> I couldn’t help but include that Mrs. Doubtfire reference with Nala, the situation was too perfect.  
> Alix cameo cause why not.


	6. Home

Marinette swallowed a nervous lump in her throat as Adrien turned the key in the lock of the apartment door. The door to their home.

“Welcome home, Bugaboo,” Adrien whispered quietly as he held the door open for her. Marinette nodded and gave him an anxious smile as she stepped into the threshold of their spacious two-bedroom apartment.

It was only yesterday that Dr. Bulot has informed them that Marinette was cleared to return home the next day, becoming an outpatient. Marinette sighed internally as she let Adrien help her out of her coat. Not only was she supposed to occasionally meet with Dr. Bulot for check ups (not that she minded), she still had her periodic pregnancy appointments to keep as well as a strong recommendation to go see Adrien’s therapist for herself a few times. Marinette braced herself. This was not going to be easy.

The two kwamis zipped past them into the apartment as Adrien led her past the small vestibule into the main living area. They were a few steps into the living room before Marinette noticed an abundance of baskets of food and cards set out on the coffee table and on the bar area of the kitchen which was to their right.

“Oh,” she murmured, taken aback.

“Yeah, it’s from our friends. They surprised me with it last night,” Adrien explained, trying and failing to prevent Plagg from wreaking havoc in the food packages.

“That was so sweet of them.” Marinette made a mental note to send out thank you cards later. Marinette was currently a mixed bag of emotions; she was excited about being released from the hospital, touched at the kind gestures from their friends, and yet disheartened when she perused some other the cards without recognising some of the names, despite the very personal messages of encouragement written in them.

After a few moments, she and Adrien managed to set out their dinners from the contents of the food baskets while packing away the rest. Marinette slowly worked her way through her meal while trying to observe the kitchen and dining area as subtly as possible. The kitchen was spacious with a convenient layout, which probably made maneuvering in it a breeze.

Marinette looked down at her half-finished meal on her plate. She couldn’t help the feelings of sadness that arose as she observed the china pattern. Although it was beautiful, and probably something she had spent time picking out herself, it didn’t spark any recognition within her at all. Slightly dejected, she pushed her plate away from her and glanced up at Adrien. He held his chin in one hand while he picked at his food glumly with the other.

“Not hungry?” Marinette inquired. He shook his head. “Me neither. Maybe we should call it an early night and just head to bed,” she suggested. Adrien shrugged absently before rising to clear the table and put away their unfinished meals.

In the spare, now her, bedroom Marinette noticed that Adrien had taken the liberty in moving some of her clothes into the dresser. Grateful, she rifled through her pyjamas when she caught a glimpse of herself in the full body mirror.

_Oof._

Trying to keep herself calm, her eyes silently roamed the scrapes and cuts which had begun to scar over, while Tikki watched her apprehensively. As her hand found its way to cut on her head, she felt Tikki wipe away the tears from her cheeks that she didn’t notice were there. Mouthing a silent “Thank you”, Marinette turned her attention back to the mirror for a brief moment.

Her hands framed her bulging stomach while she posed from different angles with her lips quirked to the side in contemplation. _Yep, I’m pregnant alright_ , she thought.

“You’re beautiful, Marinette,” Tikki consoled, hopefully quelling any negative thoughts her holder might have about her changing body.

“Thanks, Tikki,” Marinette gave her kwami a small smile before throwing on some pyjamas and heading towards the bathroom.

Minutes later, Tikki again had to assuage Marinette’s doubts about her body.

“Marinette, you are _pregnant_. This is normal,” her kwami again tried to soothe her when she had stepped off the scale in the bathroom. Marinette pursed her lips before nodding.

“From now on that’s going to the lowest the scale reads until you give birth. So, we’re not going to fuss excessively over numbers, okay? You just have to keep a balanced diet and maintain proper meal portions,” Tikki continued, stressing the last part to remind Marinette that eating such a skimpy dinner should not become a habit.

“Yes, Dr. Tikki,” Marinette joked, cheering up a little.

“Speaking of, you should take your prenatal vitamins tonight, since you barely ate dinner.” Tikki suggested.

“Sure, thing,” Marinette let Tikki lead her out of the bathroom towards the medicine cabinet in the kitchen. After taking her vitamins, she was about to return the bottle to the cabinet when another pill bottle caught her eye.

“What’s this?” she questioned, her hand reaching toward the small, orange bottle.

“They’re my antidepressants,” Adrien’s voice from behind her startled Marinette into almost dropping the pills.

“Oh,” Marinette turned around to face her husband.

“My therapist recommended I see a clinical psychologist a few years ago and they prescribed these,” he indicated to the bottle in her hand.

“Do you find that they help?” she inquired. Before he could respond, Plagg cut in.

“Yeah, except he doesn’t take them!” Plagg blabbed, ignoring the betrayed look Adrien shot him.

“What? Why not?” she asked, alarmed.

“Honestly, sometimes I forget,” Marinette shot him a disapproving look, “And after a while of taking them, I start to feel better so…,” he trailed off.

“Minou,” she said sternly, “You know that that’s not how they work. You’re supposed to take them as long as the doctor says to,” Marinette sighed. “Did you take it today?” he shook his head.

Marinette beckoned Adrien to follow her into her room after she made him take his medicine. She already had a plan forming in her head about how to keep him on track with his medication and herself as well, with her various vitamins and supplements. Plopping down on the bed, she briefly lost herself in soft mattress for a second while a contented moan escaped her lips.

“So much better than the hospital bed!” she exclaimed while Adrien gave her a wan smile. Scooching over to give him room, she patted the spot next to her. He sat down next to her nervously fiddling with his wedding ring.

“So, did you want to talk about your father?” Marinette asked after a while.

“No,” Adrien shook his head, his eyes cast down on the bed and not on her, “I _really_ don’t want to talk about it.”

“Adrien,” Marinette shifted closer to him and placed her hands on his. This stopped his fidgeting and he briefly glanced up at her before shifting his gaze down again.

“When did you start therapy?” she asked hoping that she could ease their way into the discussion with a slightly different topic.

 _There was no avoiding this, huh?_ Adrien thought to himself. Sighing in defeat, he turned to face her fully.

“Right after we eloped,” he replied. “he was being even more of a brute towards us after it. Even before we confirmed his identity as le Papillion.” He felt Marinette squeeze his hands comfortingly.

“But—why did we elope in the first place?”

“Because of him!” Adrien’s shift in tone startled Marinette, but her hands never left his. “Ever since we both discovered each other’s identities we knew it was going to be hard to keep apart from each other.” Marinette’s heart caught in her throat at this, fearing what he would say next. He continued with a furrowed brow.

“We were afraid of our relationship going public, so we kept it quiet. Ladybug and Chat Noir were always professional as partners. Marinette and Adrien, however, they wanted to be together but didn’t want to live in fear of what could happen…”

Marinette caught on to his meaning. She must have told him about Chat Blanc at one point and they obviously didn’t want to risk a repeat of that happening. She tuned back in to what Adrien was saying.

“We eloped in an effort to prevent… well you know,” Marinette winced but nodded. “We decided to control how and when we broke the news to people, especially _him_.” Marinette raised an eyebrow at this.

“We began to suspect him again after you discovered the possibility of the butterfly miraculous holder akumatising himself.”

“I see,” Marinette mused. “I’m taking he didn’t take the news well?”

“He was frigging awful to us, Marinette. Without even considering le Papillion.” Marinette braced herself for the rant that came next. “He accused you of being a gold digger, berated me for being a ‘naïve fool’, threatened to ruin your career and get me kicked out of grad school. He sent akuma victims after us! He purposely riled up innocent people just to make them villains to harass us! He tried to get to our friends _and_ your family! And that’s not the worst of it. He akumatised us.” Marinette’s blood ran cold upon hearing this.

“He--?” Adrien bit his lip down at the memory. Marinette moved closer to him and squeezed his shoulder while he collected himself.

“During one attempt, after a particularly nasty phone call, he sent an akuma after me. The bastard must have been already transformed when he called.” Adrien clenched his fist in anger, “You freaked out, determined not to let me get akumatised, and in the process, you—you got infected.” Marinette gasped at this.

“What happened?”

“Luckily, you had a contingency plan for an event like that.” Marinette looked at him in confusion. “Ether,” he stated simply. “I had to knock you out before you could do anything.” Marinette sat there in stunned silence, not able to say anything while Adrien continued his account.

“And that’s how I started therapy. Dr. Desjardins suggested that throwing an actual wedding might appease my father, but I couldn’t care less at that point. Not too long after that, we discovered his identity.”

“But, why?” Marinette finally regained her voice. “Why did he want our miraculous? What wish did he want to make?”

“ _Why?_ ” Adrien spat out venomously, nearly frightening Marinette, “I’ll tell you why. We finally reached his lair, only to find out that my mother, the one parent who actually cared for me, was lying underneath our freaking house, in some creepy life-support coffin and not actually missing,” Marinette eyes were wide as she placed both hands on his shaking shoulders.

“He knew where she was all that time,” he hissed out. “And resorted to terrorising Paris, tormenting the temporary heroes and their families and manipulating his so-called friends. And just when I think it can’t get any worse, his precious assistant turns out to be Mayura, who nearly killed herself in an effort to help him!”

Marinette’s heart sank even more, knowing how that would have hurt him. She pulled him closer to her as he continued through with a heavy voice.

“He tricked Audrey Bourgeois and Tomoe Tsurugi into unknowingly helping him. He nearly took out our whole team. _He tried to kill us!_ If it weren’t for Viperion and Bunnyx…,” he couldn’t go on. At this point he broke down in sobs while Marinette hugged him tightly, rubbing his back and trying to rock him in her arms.

“He was my father, Marinette,” he choked out, “my father… my father…”

“Shh... shhh…,” Marinette soothed as Plagg and Tikki tried to nuzzle his face from either side. “I’ve got you now. We’ve got you now, Minou.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angst? Angst.  
> I included the thing about Audrey and Tomoe because at the end of Festin they are shown watching/listening to the broadcast about the temple after Gabenath. I figured that somewhere down the road Hawky would stir some crap up with them.


	7. Returning to Normal Life

Marinette’s bladder woke her up the next day. Ignoring it for a little while, she lay in bed a bit disoriented.

_Where am I?_ she thought sleepily to herself. _Oh, yeah. I’m home_. The words sounded foreign to her even in her thoughts. She stirred in her half-awake state before realising that she was not alone in the bed. Blinking her bleary eyes open, she was surprised to find her vision filled with blond hair.

Her heart skipped several beats before she remembered what had happened the night before: the tense conversation she shared with Adrien and how he had cried himself to sleep in her arms. A wave a pity washed over her as she remembered her partner’s distress and she recalled her own tears that were shed for him.

Fully awake now, she realised that Adrien was in a deep sleep, with one arm lightly draped over her midsection. Trying not to disturb him, she moved her arms from where they loosely held his shoulders and tried to quietly wiggle out of his grasp. Adrien stirred slightly, while Plagg was displaced from his spot, but the two didn’t wake and Marinette silently scuttled off the bathroom.

Afterwards she met Tikki in the kitchen and the two of them began to prepare breakfast as quietly as possible. A few minutes later, a sleepy Adrien stumbled into the kitchen, yawning and scratching him stomach.

“G’morning,” he mumbled, making his way over to her.

“Morning!” she replied brightly, hoping to start their day off in a cheery manner. She soon froze, when she realised that Adrien was starting to lean towards her with his lips puckered.

Snapping fully awake, he suddenly realised what he was doing. He took a few steps back spurting forth apologies.

“No, no, don’t apologise, it’s okay,” she tried to assure him, blushing bright red. “Let me guess? We have a first morning kiss routine or something?” she tried to keep her tone light.

“Yeah,” he rubbed the back of his neck. Before he could say anymore, he was caught off guard by Marinette cupping his face in her hands and giving him a soft peck on the cheek.

“W-well, there’s no reason not to continue, right?” her face was still red as she tried to keep her voice even.

“Right,” he responded with a soft smile, before moving to help her with breakfast.

“How did you sleep last night?” Marinette questioned, still worried about her partner.

“Better than in the last few days,” he admitted. Marinette was relieved at that. Soon the both of them were sitting down across from each other at the table for a simple, yet satisfying breakfast.

*

“And are you sure that we’ve got enough cheese for Plagg?” Marinette asked for the fifth time.

Trying not to sound exasperated, Adrien responded with another, “Yes, I’m sure.” For good measure he added, “if we buy him more cheese, he will just eat more cheese.”

Marinette nodded then quickly checked the grocery list she and Adrien made after breakfast before zipping down another aisle. Adrien quickly followed with an almost filled shopping cart. He was quite impressed with his lady, to say the least.

It wasn’t even 24 hrs since she was released from the hospital and she already set out a plan for them. She expressed her concern that the only food that was in their apartment was from the food baskets and quickly made up a meal plan for the week. Even though he couldn’t help feeling down when she had asked him about his food preferences, he still was pleased that deep down his lady hadn’t changed. _Which is more than I can say about myself_ , he thought dejectedly.

With the standard grocery items in their cart, as well as a set of thank-you cards and two pillboxes for their medication, the couple made their way over to the cashier to check out. Things were going smoothly as they unpacked their cart before Marinette had a mini freakout as she searched her pockets and her purse for her wallet. Slightly amused by her lack of awareness of their situation, he rested his arms on the cart before she turned to him a bit distressed.

“Adrien,” she spoke in a terse whisper, “I can’t find my wallet!” He simply pulled out his pocketbook and handed her his card.

“Thank you,” she breathed out in relief, “I’ll pay you back as soon as I find my wallet.” He snorted at that.

“No need, Bugaboo,” he said. Marinette turned around after she paid the cashier and handed him back his card in confusion. In response, he paused from loading the groceries back into the cart and tapped his wedding band before resuming his task.

“Oh yeah…,” Marinette said in a tone as if she made some great discovery. She, in turn, fiddled with her own wedding rings as the two of them made their way out of the store, towards Adrien’s car.

On the drive back to their apartment, Adrien again wondered how much he’d have to adjust his behaviour for his amnesiac wife. Before the accident they were very close and affectionate as a couple. It was no lie to say that even before they were married that this was true, their marriage only bringing in a new dimension of intimacy into the relationship. As Ladybug and Chat Noir they worked well as a practically perfect team and their banter game was on point. Even as Adrien and Marinette, they had become very close friends and caring with each other. Of course, he had already decided that she would set the pace to how much physical affection she was comfortable with (ignoring his sleepy mistake that morning), and discussions about intimacy were off the table until after the baby was born, in order to maker her feel most comfortable. Marinette’s voice startled Adrien out of his musings.

“Thank you,” she said quietly. This time Adrien was confused, but didn’t want to tempt fate by looking at her and kept his eyes on the road.

“The groceries are nothing, Marinette…,” he started before he was cut off.

“No, not for that,” Marinette shook her head. “Thank you for your patience with me.” Adrien stayed silent while she continued. “I can only image how frustrating it is for you to hear me ask about your food preferences, or not knowing how much cheese Plagg eats on a weekly basis or not realising that being married means that it doesn’t matter who pays for the groceries.” She took a deep breath. “It feels like I have to learn myself again, learn who you are, and learn who we are as a couple; I’m grateful for your patience through all this.”

By this time, Adrien had pulled into their parking space and shut off the engine. Taking her left hand in his own he turned to face her.

“Like I said in the hospital, this wasn’t your fault. And, I am personally honoured at the opportunity to get to woo you again. I’d do it a thousand times over for you, ma lady.” He placed a soft kiss to the back of her hand, justifying the action to himself as something that Chat Noir has done countless times before.

Flushing pink, Marinette gave him a warm smile before pulling him into an awkward, yet tender hug, which he gratefully returned.

*

Not too long after they had returned home and packed away the groceries, Marinette and Adrien retreated to their separate rooms. Marinette had found some of her more recent diaries and set to work examining them. Adrien had decided to give her space for the time being and busied himself in preparing for work the following Monday. He had taken that week off of work and left his TAs and fellow faculty members to take over his classes. He sighed once he thought about the amount of work that would be awaiting him when he returned to the university.

The both of them employed themselves in this way with only brief interruptions for lunch and dinner. Despite knocking back a good bit of work, Adrien couldn’t help feeling down. Even though his day started off well spending time with Marinette, he presently only had the feeble distraction of work to take his mind off of the depressing thoughts that always seem to lurk at the back of his mind. His usual solution was to find a better distraction in the form of his lady, or find his escape in sleep.

Glancing at the time, he murmured his surprise at how late it had gotten, and went to check up on Marinette. When he opened her door, he found her passed out on her bed with her diaries spread out around her in a mess. Lingering by the door with a forlorn expression on his face, he sighed before blowing her a kiss. It looked like sleep was his only reprieve now.

*

The rest of that week was uneventful for Adrien and Marinette. They’d wake up in their separate rooms, greet each other with a cheek kiss, make small talk over breakfast then go into their bedrooms to attend to their separate work. It seemed that they were slowly returning to normal life, or at least some semblance of it. Even though he was trying to hide it, the change in their interactions was beginning to take a toll on Adrien. The dark corner of his mind seemed to claim his attention more and more, despite being more diligent with taking his medication regularly. When they had met with his therapist, he was informed that this was almost an expected effect of Marinette’s accident, and that he should take his time to reacquaint himself with her. He had almost rolled his eyes at that. That was his plan all along, it was that he just didn’t anticipate how _difficult_ it was going to be in the meantime.

However, a few patches of sunlight shone through the darkening sky every now and again. Sometimes she would suggest they spend more time together, like watching a movie, or taking a walk even when it got colder outside. He appreciated that. He loved the moments they shared together, teasing each other like the Ladybug and Chat Noir that they were (even though he had to discipline himself to avoid a particular brand of teasing).

One particular incident that stood out, happened first thing one morning. He had just greeting her with a forehead kiss (something different to jazz things up), when he noticed that she was shuffling around a bit nervously.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, hoping that he didn’t do anything to make her feel weird.

“I -um, wanted to talk to you about something,” she addressed her toes. She felt Adrien’s hand tilt her chin up so that she could look at his patient expression. Taking a deep breath, she started, “I was wondering if you could, um, maybe putthetoiletseatdownafteryouuseit?” she blurted out.

_Oh shoot_ , Adrien thought. He had become so absent minded recently that he had totally forgot about doing a simple task like that. “I’m so sorry, Marinette. I’ll remember from now on,” he promised.

“No, no, it’s fine,” she said, her brain now going into rambling mode, “I usually don’t mind it was just that last night I had to pee in the middle of the night and I didn’t want to wake you up because the bathroom light and fan go on at the same time so I went to use the bathroom in the dark…,” she trailed off, hoping that she didn’t make a complete fool of herself for spazzing over a simple issue.

Adrien’s face was blank for the two seconds it took to process what she was saying before a catnip-eating-grin spread over his features.

“You fell in, didn’t you, Marinette?” he teased. Her jaw dropped open in protest.

“I did not!” Adrien lifted an eyebrow at her while his grin grew wider. “I’m telling you I didn’t! Don’t smirk at me! I almost did but I caught myself!”

“Uh-huh,” he replied in an incredulous tone. “In all seriousness, I’ll remember to put it down so that you don’t fall in again.” This riled up Marinette again, while Adrien clutched his stomach as he doubled over in laughter.

“You listen to me, Adrien Alexandre Ariel André Athanase Agreste!” she wagged his index finger at him while he immediately sobered, “I did not fall in and that’s final!” she crossed her arms over plump stomach with an exaggerated harrumph.

Adrien stood in silence for a moment before he answered her. “That’s not my name,” he responded simply. Marinette unfolded her arms and turned to face him with genuine surprise on her face. For all the time she had that stalker crush on him in collège, she was sure she at least remembered his full name.

“It’s not?” Adrien shook his head.

“It’s Adrien,”

_Duh_ , she thought.

“Alexandre,”

_Meaning ‘defender of man’, quite fitting that he turned out to be a superhero_.

“Ariel,”

_Because look into my eyes and tell me that he’s not a Disney princess_.

“André,”

_A pathetic attempt to suck up to Audrey Bourgeois, by naming him after her husband_ , she almost gagged.

“Athanase,”

_Like I could forget that one. Looks like I do remember his name_ , she gloated to herself, almost missing what he said next.

“Dupain-Cheng.”

“Wait, what?” she wasn’t sure if she had heard him right.

“My name is Adrien Dupain-Cheng.” She looked up at him with an unreadable expression before she blushed.

“Is this how guys feel, when a woman takes their name?” she asked shyly. “Like kind of proud that someone wants to be a part of their family and a bit protective over them?”

Adrien chuckled at that and shrugged, “I wouldn’t know about that, but I’m glad that you made me a part of your family.”

He could have sworn that his heart melted into a puddle at the sweet smile that she gave him in return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The toilet seat thing happened to me. Was sharing a hotel room with my siblings on a family vacation and, trying to be considerate, I went to use the washroom with the lights off so the fan wouldn’t disturb them, only to almost fall into the toilet like Marinette. I was laughed at too.


	8. Meet up

Adrien sighed as he adjusted his coat against the chilly November winds as he made his way to his car. That morning he had got up and had breakfast with Marinette as usual, then got ready for work and was sent off by Marinette with a big smile and a wave. This was steadily becoming their new routine, their new normal. He tried not to be bitter about it by reminiscing about the abundance of hugs and kisses that he used to have. He should be grateful for what he got, right? But still he couldn’t seem to help his increasing moodiness. That particular day, part of it stemmed from the fact that Marinette was going out by herself to visit her boutique.

He had fussed over her like a mother hen despite her repeated assertions that she should be fine. Tikki assured him that she would look out after her, but he still preferred to be there for her, and if he didn’t have to go to work, he happily would have accompanied her. However, in the end he relented once she promised to check in every now and again via text. After all, her visit to the store was necessary. She needed to meet with Noémie and Adélaïde, who worked at her boutique, to discuss how they would be handling business. This was a crucial step in trying to adjust to the life that the accident had threatened to rob from her. _From them_. All Adrien could do at that point was to whisper silent prayers for her safety as he pulled into his parking space at the university.

*

Marinette was running late. _Comme d’habitude_ , she thought mirthlessly to herself. In this case, she could get away with saying that it wasn’t completely her fault. She had become a bit distressed about the number of items in her closet that simply wouldn’t fit, and had to finally resign herself to dip into her maternity clothes stock. Despite the slight blow to her pride, she was excited. She had been in contact with the two ladies who worked at her boutique and couldn’t wait to finally meet them, or, rather, see them again.

After successfully manoeuvring through public transport with Tikki’s help, she finally made her way to the store. Once she entered, she was greeted by her two workers. Adélaïde was tall and stocky, with a mass of reddish blonde hair cascading down her shoulders and long bangs which partially shielded her violet-blue eyes from the world. Noémie, on the other hand, had a slighter, more petite frame and kept hair swept up in an updo which highlighted her piercing amber eyes, which especially stood out against her dark-brown skin. Both of them were extremely pleasant and immediately made Marinette feel at home.

They spent the next couple of hours going over the store dynamics and figuring a work plan for the rest of Marinette’s sick leave and maternity leave. Like Adrien, both of them expressed concern for Marinette wanting to jump back into work so soon after the accident, however, the three of them managed to work out a schedule that they thought was reasonable. Soon, Marinette left the store in good spirits. She was happy about sorting out her work situation, and even happier about reacquainting herself with the two ladies. Using the information she gained from her diaries and what she had gathered from their conversation, she couldn’t help but trust that the store would be in good hands while she worked from home most of the time.

Lost in her musings about the boutique and the workers with Tikki, Marinette was not paying attention to the street in front of her and narrowly avoided colliding with a tall man.

“Oops! I’m so sorry! I should have been watching where I was going…,” the rest of her apology died on her lips as she stared at the familiar blonde. _Adrien?_ She thought in confusion. _Wasn’t he supposed to be in class at this time?_ Realisation dawned on her around the same time the man’s previously miffed expression shifted from surprise to a bit of concern.

“Marinette? Are you okay?”

“Félix,” she acknowledged a bit coldly, initially recalling her first memories of him. “Yes, I’m fine, thanks.”

“I heard about your accident. I’m glad to see that you are doing better.” Marinette couldn’t tell if he was being genuine or not. As she tried to recount all her memories of him, she remembered that even though he didn’t always have an ulterior motive for acting nice (at least towards her) she still kept her distance as a precaution.

“Thank you,” she said cordially before starting to walk off.

“Wait!” he called out. When she turned around, he put on a sheepish expression that she didn’t buy for a second. “I think it’s actually good luck that I ran into you.” Marinette raised an unimpressed eyebrow. Sensing her skepticism, Félix shed the act all together and decided to speak from the heart for once.

“Look, I know that you’re not a fan of me, with or without amnesia, but I wanted to talk to you about something important.” This caught her attention.

“I’m listening.”

“Did you eat lunch already? Maybe we can talk about it at a café or something.” Marinette sneaked a glance at her purse to see what Tikki thought. Her kwami only shrugged. It seemed like she too couldn’t tell what he was up to.

“First tell me what you need to talk about.” Marinette said crossing her arms. Félix gave her an annoyed sigh before seemingly giving in.

“It’s about my wife, Bridgette.”

*

“You want me to help you get back together with your wife?” Marinette picked at her sub-par spinach quiche, partly at the incredulity of Félix’s request and partly because she was a pastry snob and that quiche wasn’t cutting it.

“Yes?” Félix offered her the rest of his salad hoping to earn brownie points with her. Despite the intimacy of the gesture, she accepted because she was very hungry and he _did_ technically warn her that the quiches were bland at that café.

“How long were you two separated?” she questioned, after several mouthfuls of the delicious salad.

“Two months, one week and five days,” he replied immediately. Marinette swallowed and contemplated the information given her.

She had recognised Bridgette’s name from one of the gift baskets and cards she had received a few weeks ago when she had returned home. She also came across her name in her diaries several times but not many details were given in those particular entries. However, according to Félix, they had met in university and became pretty close; and apparently, he had met Bridgette through her. Marinette didn’t know if she should apologise to Bridgette an account of the last point, but for the time being she decided to give Félix the benefit of the doubt. He seemed to really care about his wife.

“Look,” she started off cautiously, “I can’t promise you anything. If she left you, she may have had a good reason to. First and foremost, she is my friend and I’m going to make sure that _she_ is doing okay,” he seemed truly dejected at that. “But, if she seems open to it, I’ll mention that I ran into you and that you said you really miss her. That’s only if she’s ready to talk about you,” she emphasised.

With his hundredth sigh during their conversation, he stood up.

“Fine. Can’t say I didn’t try. I appreciate you listening to me though.” With that, he went over to the front counter to take care of the bill then exited the café, leaving Marinette alone with Tikki, the salad and her thoughts.

*

“And you think he’s being genuine?” Adrien asked over dinner, after Marinette recounted the day’s events to him.

“I don’t know,” she replied, eagerly tucking into her homemade quiche. She wished that she could give the cooks at the café her quiche recipe as charitable donation. “There was nothing in his behaviour today that raised any red flags,” she paused, thinking, “but I think it’s strange that Bridgette would go for so long without seeing him, and barely communicating with him over a small issue.” Adrien nodded in agreement.

“I don’t want to push her into anything, but I do want to meet up with her, to make sure she’s doing alright,” she continued.

“And are you going to ask her about Félix?” he questioned. Marinette shrugged.

“I’ll leave that for her to bring up.”

*

Several days later, Marinette was back at the same café to meet up with Bridgette. She decided on the same salad she had with Félix and a bolognese sandwich (Tikki had persuaded her against the tuna salad sandwich, something about limiting her fish intake). She soon spotted a woman who matched the description of Bridgette: long blue-black hair with a cowlick in the centre, bright blue eyes and chubby cheeks. Coincidentally, she was sitting at the same table Félix chose a few days ago.

“Marinette!” she called out to her.

“Bridgette,” Marinette made her way over to the woman. Before she could give any other kind of greeting, Bridgette stood up and gave Marinette a warm hug.

“It’s so nice to see that you’re doing better!” she exclaimed emotionally. “I wasn’t sure how to reach out and I wanted to give you and Adrien some time to recover from this, but I was soooo glad when I got your text!”

“T-thank you,” Marinette almost had to gasp for air. _Bridgette hugs just like Papa,_ she noted. “I really appreciated the basket and card you sent and I recognised your name coming up a lot in my diaries.”

Bridgette soon released Marinette from the hug and gestured for her to take a seat. Marinette managed to get a quick glance at the woman’s frame, noting that it was not too unlike her own. Except…

“So tell me, what’s it been like for you these past few days,” Bridgette’s voice interrupted Marinette’s thoughts. “I can’t imagine what you and Adrien are going through.”

The two women spent the next couple of minutes catching up. Marinette could see why they became good friends. Not counting the uncanny similarities between the two, in appearance and in personality, something just clicked between them and Marinette found no difficulty being comfortable around her.

“…and that’s why this is my favourite café,” Bridgette recounted yet another story to her friend. Marinette smiled at the account as she lifted the last forkful of her salad to her mouth. “It’s funny how we ended up ordering the same meal!” Marinette paused for a moment before feeding herself the mouthful.

“Yeah,” she said after she swallowed.

“Félix was the one who got me hooked on the salad,” Bridgette remarked offhandedly. Marinette keenly observed her friend. This was the first time she mentioned anything about Félix. Deciding to take a risk, Marinette spoke up:

“I bumped into him the other day.” Bridgette looked at her in surprise. “He said that he misses you,” she added in a soft voice.

“I know,” Bridgette sighed. “He texts and calls me every day.” Marinette noticed her friend’s eyes becoming watery before the latter turned her head to the window.

“How are _you_ doing, Bridgette,” Marinette reached for her hand, “I know that this isn’t easy for you,” she gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Brigette looked back at her, and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief.

“Honestly, I don’t know how I feel,” she said with a weak smile. “We’ve been separated before and usually it’s the same thing over and over again but…” her voice shook. Marinette patiently waited for her friend to compose herself.

“I just want things to change, you know?” she continued, “I knew Félix wasn’t the best person when I married him. Not that I doubt his fidelity to me or anything,” she quickly clarified, “but, ethically he’s a bit…twisted.” Marinette gave her hand another comforting squeeze.

“We fight and we argue about it, then we make up and he’s better for a while, but then it’s the same thing in no time. I know I can’t change him but… I just want him to be a good person, damnit!” she shouted. Marinette was a bit alarmed over Bridgette’s sudden change in mood but she kept her hand firmly on her friend’s.

Ignoring the curious glances that her friend’s outburst had drawn to them, Marinette urged Bridgette to continue.

“ _This_ time, I-I really want things to change.”

Marinette, quickly weighed her options of what to say next, then decided to go out on a limb based on what she noticed about her friend during the brief time she stood when she greeted her.

“Bridgette,” Marinette began cautiously, “Are you—are you pregnant?” Bridgette nodded, with newly formed tears in her eyes.

“Does Félix know?” The tears spilled over to Bridgette’s cheeks as she choked out a negative response.

 _Geez, what’s in the Parisian water?_ Marinette thought to herself. _There’s me, Alya and now Bridgette_.

“How far along are you, if I may ask?”

“Around three months,” Bridgette fought to compose herself. “I found out when we were already separated for like a month.”

Marinette now fully understood the weight of her friend’s struggle. Even though she had her own issues to deal with presently, she had a feeling that things would work out in the end. She had Adrien by her side and even though it would probably take a while, they were sure to work out their situation. They always did. She looked over her friend with concern.

“I honestly don’t know what I would do in your situation,” Marinette started out, “but, if you’re certain of his love for you and if you feel comfortable with it, maybe you should tell him. Tell him what his behaviour could potentially cost him.

“Honestly, I don’t know Félix as well as you do and he’s not exactly endeared in my intact memories,” the corner of Bridgette’s mouth raised a bit at Marinette’s attempt at levity, “but my gut says that he does care about you and would like to know about his child.” Bridgette gave her a small smile.

“Either that, or Hugo’s just telling me to lay off of spicy foods,” Marinette joked, affectionately resting her free hand on her stomach. Bridgette laughed outright at that.

“Thanks Marinette, for everything,” she gave Marinette’s hand a grateful squeeze before getting up to wrap her in another bear hug.

*

“That was something, huh?” Tikki piped up as she and Marinette were waiting on the bus.

“Yeah,” Marinette replied, snuggling deeper into her coat against the wind. “Who knew marriage was so complicated,” she mused. “Especially when you add a child into the mix,” she whispered, her hand drifting unconsciously down her stomach.

“It is a lot of work,” Tikki agreed. “That’s why it should never be entered in lightly. You have to be someone and be _with_ someone who’s willing to put in the effort to make it work.”

Marinette pondered her kwami’s words. She started to doubt that like her laid-back ‘everything will work out in the end’ attitude would be enough for her and Adrien. _I’m going to have to put a lot of effort into this_ , she thought. _The question is where to start?_

A notification from her phone brought Marinette out of her thoughts. She leisurely skimmed the message before doing double take and reading it again. After re-reading it three more times, she took off from the bus stop in a familiar direction.

“Where are we going?” Tikki asked, worried about Marinette’s frantic walking speed.

“The hospital!” she replied breathlessly. “Alya is having her baby right now!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can fill in the blanks about Félix’s personality here but his motive (at least this time) is genuine. He really does love his wife even though he’s a gremlin.  
> Bridgette loves her gremlin. Even though he’s never a jerk to her, she doesn’t like him being a jerk to others.


	9. Having Kids

The feeling welling up in Nino’s chest was a familiar one. He’d first experienced it in a Haitian courtroom, when Nala’s adoption was finalised. Now it was rising up in him again as he welcomed his second child into the world. It was a curious mixture of love, pride, joy and a cacophony of other emotions yet to be deciphered. Now this mixture spilled out of his eyes and unto his cheeks for the umpteenth time.

“You’re ugly crying again,” his wife deadpanned. Nino laughed through his tears. “You’d think I would be the one constantly in tears with the amount of pain that you just put me through.”

“Can you blame me?” he sniffed out, pressing his daughter to his chest. “She’s beautiful.”

“I know,” Alya responded with a tender smile.

“You’re beautiful too, you know,” Alya’s smile widened at his words. “And amazing, and smart, and _so_ strong,” Nino made a show of ticking a list off his fingers.

“I know,” Alya had a more comical expression on her face and rolled her eyes.

He meant every word of it. He had seldom seen his wife more beautiful than she was that day. Her hair was plastered to her face with the sweat that drenched her features. Her expression wore a grimace of pain as she leaned on the (what was it?) squat bar she had requested. Her face had turned red with effort as she grunted out in herculean strength to give birth to their daughter.

_Their daughter_.

Nino dropped a soft kiss on his daughter’s brow as he recalled the first moment she entered the world; her cries were almost drowned out with his as he’d wept like a child. He encircled his arms around her more as he vowed for the millionth time to be her protector. He briefly glanced at the unassuming bracelet on his wrist which he never took off. In more ways than one he’d be her protector.

He perched on his wife’s hospital bed and tenderly kissed her cheek. His love for that woman seemed to grow so much since they had been married, and especially over the last nine months. Because of her they had Nala, and now the newest member of their family. Nino felt as if his heart would burst from the abundance of love, and he was okay with that.

“Ugh, I don’t want you near me for the next six months,” Alya mocked pushed against him. Nino laughed at his wife. “Do you know what kind of ordeal I just went through?”

“You weren’t complaining nine months ago, babe. Or anytime at all, really,” Nino dropped his voice to a sultry whisper as he leaned in. “And you know you can’t keep your hands off me for long.” Alya flushed but took advantage of his closeness to kiss him.

“You know I love you right?” she whispered against his lips. He smiled before giving her another kiss, as he still held his daughter securely in his arms.

Alya rested her head against her husband’s shoulder and the happy couple stayed a while like that, enjoying each other’s presence and that of their sleeping child.

*

“Aunty Netta, meet Lily Lavender Lahiffe. She arrived by express delivery today,” Nino loved finding slightly new ways of introducing his daughter.

“Lily-la!” Nala chimed in. From the first time she had heard her new sister’s name, she had been calling her that.

“Aww, guys, she’s so precious!” Marinette softly cooed at the baby that Nino had placed in her arms. The child looked up at her with confusion in her greyish eyes, but made no fuss.

After Nala was led out for a snack by her Aunty Nora, Alya dove straight in giving her friend all the ‘deets’ of her birth story. Marinette laughed at her friend’s straight forwardness when describing her pain but still was (kinda) tactful with the more intimate details.

“…and that’s why I suggest getting a squat bar. It makes the labour go much more quickly.”

“I -uh I’ll think about it.” In truth, Marinette had not thought much at all about the actually birth her own child. But she almost felt her body having a physical response to hearing Alya’s story and holding her child. Her heartrate sped up a bit as she thought about how in a few short months, she would be in Alya’s position, with her baby on the outside.

“Aww, girl, don’t cry!” Alya interrupted her thoughts. “If you cry Nino’s gonna start crying again.”

_Huh? I didn’t even realise that I was crying._ Marinette lifted one hand to her face to find that her cheeks were indeed wet with tears.

“It’s just that not to long ago, you were still carrying her in your womb, and now she’s on the outside, living in the real world. It’s just so surreal,” Marinette clutched Lily closer to her chest.

“Tell me about it.” Alya understood where her friend was coming from. “You’re scared aren’t you?” she asked in a soft voice. Marinette nodded as more tears spill down her cheeks.

Nino placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Hey, I already fulfilled today’s tears quota twice over,” he joked. That got Marinette to smile.

“If there is anything I know, is that even if you’re scared, it’s all worth it. And we just restarted this parenting journey!” he continued. “I know you, and I know my bro, Adrien. You two are going to do fine.”

“Plus, you’re not alone, girl! We’re all here for you!” Marinette’s smile grew wider as she stroked Lily’s soft cheek. “Also, isn’t it great that our kids are going to grow up together? It would be so cool if they end up being besties like us!” Alya practically gleamed at the possibility.

By the time Adrien arrived, Alya had planned out their kids’ future lives together which included a scarily detailed play-time schedule.

“And we can get Manon and Noël to babysit!” she was saying.

Nino perked up at Adrien arrival and decided to delivered his personalised introduction of his daughter.

“Uncle Adrien, I’d like you to meet the new cat on the block, Lily Lavender Lahiffe.”

“Lily-la!” Nala piped up from the corner of the room, where she had been engrossed quietly with a storybook when she returned.

Adrien chuckled as he went to congratulate the couple, giving his best friend a huge man-hug.

“I’m so happy for you, bro,” he whispered. Hearing the tremble in his friend’s voice, Nino gave him a reassuring squeeze.

“It’s gonna be alright, bro. You’ll get through this,” he whispered back.

_I know,_ Adrien thought as he held his best friend, _it’s just going to hurt a lot in the meantime_.

*

Nino and Alya were exhausted. Happy, but exhausted. They were eager to head back home later that day. They already had so many family and friends over to see them and Lily (Nora and her family had honestly been such a blessing in watching over Nala) that it had become a bit draining. But they still were grateful that so many people cared about them and offered their help for when they would be returning home.

As they were packing up the room with some idle conversation, Alya suddenly brought up something that was also in the back of Nino’s mind since he noticed it as well.

“Hey, babe. Did you notice anything off about Luka when he and Kagami came to visit us earlier?” She questioned. Nino did in fact notice that something seemed a bit different about the musician but he couldn’t quite place what it was.

“Yeah. I mean in a way he seemed and happy for us and such but a little bummed out as well? I don’t know how to explain it.” He accepted the fully packed bag from his wife and slung it over his shoulder.

“No, I get what you mean…,” she trailed off as she recalled their friend’s earlier interactions with them. For the most part he was smiling and chatting as usual, but Alya couldn’t get a certain image out of her mind. Nino had just asked Kagami if she wanted to hold Lily, to which she awkwardly accepted. It was only for a moment, but Luka had been watching on with an almost wistful expression. His electric blue eyes were pensive as he watched his wife hold the infant. Although it was only for a short while, Alya didn’t miss it, and apparently Nino didn’t either.

“Anyway, I hope they’re doing alright,” she sighed.

“Me too,” Nino responded, before taking his wife’s hand in his own. “Let’s go home,” he said, leading he towards the exit. Cradling her newborn in her free arm Alya smiled at him.

“Let’s.”

*

Apparently Alya and Nino weren’t the only ones who noticed Luka’s off feeling that day. Kagami quietly approached her husband as he sat on their couch strumming aimless chords on his favourite guitar. Luka looked up at her as she sat beside him wordlessly.

“What’s up, Ojou-sama?” he teased, putting on an easygoing smile. Despite him using the embarrassing nickname as a deflection, Kagami was not fooled. When she reached for his guitar, he complied, handing it over to her.

“It feels like you have something like this in your heart,” she said strumming a few melancholy chords on the instrument, trying to remember what little Luka had managed to teach her. She didn’t have his ability to ‘hear everyone’s song’ as he did, but she did hear his song because he had shared it with her.

When she finished playing she looked up at him. The one corner of his mouth was turned up in a bemused half-smile, but the faraway expression in his eyes remained.

“Can you tell me what’s bothering you?” she asked gently, her striking brown eyes held his gaze patiently as she awaited his response. He breathed out a sigh before he spoke up.

“Have you ever thought about us having kids?” he asked. If Kagami was drinking something, she would have done a spit take. Instead, she did the equivalent with his guitar, nearly dropping it on the ground before catching it and setting it on the coffee table.

“W-what?!” of all the things she thought he could say at that moment, this was _not_ one of them.

“I mean, a lot of out friends have started their families and are having kids and such and I realise that we never really discussed if it was for us or not,” he explained, leaning further back into the couch crossing his hands over his stomach.

Truth be told, he had personally been thinking about it a lot. He had thought about it when their university friends got married and started having kids right away, when Alya and Nino adopted Nala and more recently when Lily was born, when Rose talked about the children she would foster in Achu, and when Marinette announced that she was pregnant. The real thought-equivalent of an ear worm for him was when he saw his wife holding Lily in the hospital. It stirred something inside his heart that he later realised was jealousy.

Kagami swallowed thickly. She had expected he would bring it up sooner or later in their marriage. Before, it had only been in passing like in a joke or hypothetical way, never this direct. However, she was no more ready to it address it now than she was, when they first got married.

Staring down at her hands in her lap she decided to tell him her honest thoughts. Even if it made her sound selfish or pitiful.

“I’m not ready,” she started, before taking a breath to centre herself. “I don’t think I’m ready to have that conversation.” Luka looked over at her curiously. “There are still some things I want to accomplish in my career and as a fencer; personal goals I’ve set for myself because of my family’s legacy. And I want to be selfish for a little longer not having to think about such things.”

“I see,” Luka turned his head and stared up absently at the ceiling stretching out his long legs and resting them on the coffee table beside his guitar. Guilt started to swell up in Kagami’s heart and she reached over to take his hand in hers.

“Look, I’m not saying that I never want to talk about the possibility of having kids. That wouldn’t be fair to you. I’m just saying that I’m not ready for that conversation now. I don’t even know if I want kids or not—it’s just, I need time before I’m ready to have a proper discussion about it.”

“How long?” he asked, looking back over at her.

“Give me a year,” she said resolutely, intertwining her fingers with his. “By then I would have accomplished most of what I set out for myself.”

“Fine.” Kagami looked up at him, surprised to see that he seemed relieved. It was like the biggest fear he had was being completely shut down about the topic. “I’m just happy your willing to talk to me about it. Even if it’s put off for a year. I think that’s completely fair to wait till both of us are willing to hear the other one out. Who knows? We may agree on everything, or nothing. It may be one conversation, or several. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’ll be some arguments peppered in there.” A small smiled played on Kagami’s lips at that. “What matters is that you’re willing to talk to me about this… in your own time.” He brought their joined hands up to his mouth to place a soft kiss on her fingers.

Smiling, Kagami reached over to kiss his cheek then pull him in a tight embrace.

“Thanks for understanding,” she whispered in his ear as he wrapped his arms around her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lily from Tigerlily (Gigantitan)


	10. Parents

In the passenger seat of Adrien’s car, Marinette idly watched the scenery zoom past her. The two of them had just returned from visiting Alya and Nino to lend a helping hand with their kids, and were on their way home. For most adults, a simple visit like that would be straight forward and light-hearted. Unfortunately, they were not most adults.

What was initially supposed to be a mundane stop-over to help with the kids, quickly turned into an informal miraculous team meeting once Nala was put down for her nap. It was an understatement to say that Marinette was surprised that Nino and Alya were both permanent miraculous holders, with the latter previously being on break due to her pregnancy. They had hinted that it was something that was born out of the final battle with le Papillion, before la Farfella took over, with them choosing to reveal their identities to select members of their team who would in turn become permanent holders.

They tried to explain to her about how la Farfella worked, with akuma battles lasting for several days at a time, but Marinette could hardly wrap her head around all the new information. She had thought that le Papillion was a terrorist, but la Farfella took the cake. She shuddered at the mention of them chasing down akumas for days only to have the person be freed and another, with new motives and fighting style take their place. Apparently, the economy of Paris and even France was suffering, with people being afraid to visit the city and even the country, and high rates of emigration because Parisians have had enough. There were also those who had started to side with la Farfella, protesting that if Ladybug and Chat Noir would just give up their miraculouses, then the madness would finally end.

They also wanted to strategize a bit to prepare for the next battle. They hoped that they had time for Alya to recover so that they could use a substitute ladybug and have her cast an illusion over her so that nobody would know the difference. If not, Misterbug would have to make an appearance and they would have to pray that they could last without the use of Chat Noir’s power. To all of this Marinette strongly protested, unfortunately to deaf ears. However, before they could get too far into the conversation that a serious argument came up, Adrien had checked his watch then insisted that they leave immediately.

Marinette was still a little pissed that he seemed eager to avoid the conversation. Before she could call him out on it, she noticed that they weren’t taking the usual route home that she had worked so hard to memorise.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Oh, your parents wanted me to take care of an errand at the bakery tonight, so I thought we’d swing by before we head home,” Adrien responded offhandedly.

“Ah.” Marinette was personally elated at the idea. Even though her parents were coming back the following week, she was eager to see her childhood home again. It was one of the familiar places she missed and she was curious to see how it had changed from how she last remembered it.

Moments later, they stood outside of the bakery doors waiting for Adrien to fish out the spare key so they could escape the cold. When they stepped inside, Marinette inhaled a deep breath, taking in all the familiar scents.

“Ahhh. It’s feels like I’ve haven’t been here in forever!” she exclaimed. Her hands idly brushed the tops of the counters as she walked past them, reminiscing on the myriad of memories of her time spent there that crossed her mind.

“By the way, what errand did you –,” she cut herself off from interrogating her husband when she caught a glimpse of her parents standing in the back of the bakery with expectant smiles on their faces.

Recovering from her initial shock, Marinette flew into their arms with happy tears.

“Maman! Papa!” she sobbed as she embraced them.

“Marinette!” they exclaimed. Both of them wept joyfully as they were glad to see that their daughter was alright.

“Look at you!” her mother held her at arms length while she visually examined her. “You’re showing much more than when I saw you last,” she mused.

“Maman!” Marinette protested with a blush. Sabine simply laughed and pulled her daughter in for another hug before making her way over to Adrien with her husband.

“Adrien!” she greeted the same time Tom asked, “how are you doing, son?”

“I’m fine, maman, papa,” he said returning their hugs. Marinette was a bit startled when she heard him addressing her parents like she did. But, as she watched them embrace, she could tell that he had truly become a part of her family. She smiled softly at the thought, but her heart soon pricked when she remembered that his actual parents weren’t in the picture. Even while they chatted and caught up with her, _ahem_ , their parents, Marinette couldn’t shake the thought.

By the time the arrived at their apartment that night, it was late. However, Marinette decided to let her curiosity about Adrien’s mom get the better of her and she tried to delicately bring up the topic.

“My mom?” he seemed surprised at the question. Rubbing the back of his head, he sighed before responding. “Yeah, she’s alive.” It was Marinette’s turn to appear surprised.

Adrien had figured she would delve into that topic again sooner or later since his meltdown a few weeks prior. He had been preparing him self mentally, with Plagg and even with his therapist to be able to talk about it again.

“Legally, she was declared dead. After the whole Papillion situation with all the scandals and stuff, everyone decided that it would be for the best.”

“I see,” Marinette murmured. She honestly didn’t want to push him too much for details because she could tell that after all these years he was still hurting. Plus, they were tired after a long day with the excitement of seeing her parents again also having narrowly avoided a bad argument at their best friends’ place. She could tell that all that had happened to them over the years had affected him, even if she couldn’t remember. Since she had been back, he had been down most of the time, lost in his own head and a bit distant. It took events like her parents coming home, or seeing a new baby where she could catch glimpses of his previous happy self.

Adrien could tell that despite her silence, Marinette still had several questions for him. He appreciated her holding back out of respect for him, however, he felt that she did deserve some answers. Taking a deep breath, he prepped himself like a diver plunging into cold waters.

“My mother and Gabriel found the peacock and the butterfly miraculouses that Master Fu lost when they were on a trip to Tibet.” Marinette reflexively winced at the cold way he referred to his father but didn’t speak up while he continued. “She made some,” he paused to swallow a lump in his throat, “some mistakes by using a damaged peacock miraculous but by the time they realised what was going on, she had fallen into a coma. They same thing would’ve happened to Nathalie if Gabriel hadn’t fixed the peacock miraculous.”

Marinette rested her hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze, which caused Adrien to automatically relax. He stretched out his legs from the fetal position he had unconsciously curled him into on the couch. Gaining courage, he carried on.

“We managed to revive her, but it was decided it was best for her to go into hiding without contact with anyone,” he concluded.

“Wow, I—I don’t know what to say.” Marinette was stunned. “Do you have an idea where she may be?”

“Oh, of course. She’s at the temple of guardians in Tibet,” Adrien responded while Marinette visible relaxed. “Sorry if I made it sound like she actually disappeared for good this time. The guardians decided to take her in and from what we last saw, she’s happy there. It kinda sucks that I don’t get to see her often but I know where she is and that she’s doing fine. And that’s enough for me,” he added quietly, as almost to himself.

“I’m glad she’s still in your life somehow,” Marinette said as she tried to shuffle closer to him. Despite feeling like her every move was ponderous, she managed to sit close enough to encourage him to rest his head on her shoulder. “You also have my parents,” she added. “And, it may just be me, but I think that they like you a lot,” she joked. As she reflected on how the family dinner went that night, she knew full well that her parents _adored_ Adrien. Even to the point where she suspected that he was their favourite out of the two of them.

Adrien smiled at that. “Of course they do. I’m their favourite,” he teased as if he had heard her thoughts. Marinette made no attempt to resist the urge to pinch him and watched with satisfaction as he squirmed to try to wriggle away from her.

“To be fair, my mom likes you a lot too,” Adrien whispered when he settled on her shoulder again.

“Oh?” Marinette couldn’t help the wave of sadness that hit her in not remembering meeting someone so important to him.

“Yeah. We should go to Tibet after the baby is born,” he suggested.

“I’d like that,” she murmured quietly, fighting off the urge to sleep. Adrien hummed in response.

“Hey, can you tell me what she’s like?” Marinette questioned, knowing full well that they should part ways to head to bed, but not wanting this time spent with her friend, her partner, _her husband_ to end.

“Have I ever told you that you have her smile?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All that jazz and confusion with la Farfella is with Viperion’s help. The way she structures her battles makes it almost impossible for them to shorten and his power is mostly used to prevent critically losses such as revealed identities, etc.


	11. Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: talks of depression

“And that’s it for today!” Noémie brightly exclaimed.

“Really? Are you sure?” Marinette asked.

“Mhmm,” Adélaïde hummed in agreement. “We finished all that we had to do today, plus, we got a little ahead for next week.”

“Oh. Well maybe there’s another—,” Marinette began.

“Marinette,” Noémie interrupted. “It’s the weekend. You should be spending your Saturday resting or relaxing with your family. I know that’s what I’m gonna do now,” the peppy business-like woman said.

“Okaayyy…,” Marinette drawled out. She didn’t have anymore plans for the day and didn’t expect to be finished the work before noon. But, with Adélaïde and Noémie’s help, they had managed to breeze through the work plus more.

“What are your plans after this, Addy?” Noémie asked the blonde.

“I want to go home to sleep,” she said, stifling a yawn, “but, I have to do some Christmas shopping before. If I don’t get it done while I remember, it’s never going to get done,” she mumbled as she packed up her stuff.

“Lemme guess: you stayed up all night watching cartoons again?” Noémie teased.

“It’s called anime,” Adélaïde huffed out. “And yes, I did. My siblings and I binged all of Jungle Dreams,” she admitted shamelessly. Marinette and Noémie exchanged glances and shrugged.

“You see the manga was popular while I was still in lycée…,” she started to explain, while Noémie rolled her eyes and pretended to listen as they all exited the store. Soon the three ladies parted ways at the bus stop.

As soon as she was by herself, Marinette peeked in her purse to check on Tikki and Plagg, the latter who had randomly decided to join her for the day.

“You guys have anything you want to do for today?” she asked. Tikki simply shrugged, whereas Plagg surprisingly gave a non-cheese related suggestion.

“See if you can get your husband out of the house. I don’t remember the last time he left for anything other than work, groceries or patrol.” Marinette stopped in her tracks to ponder his suggestion.

It’s true, that outside of breakfast and dinner she hadn’t interacted with him much since her parents returned from their trip. Looking back, part of it could be attributed to the fact that they were both busy with work: Marinette had Christmas orders to fulfill and Adrien had the end of the school semester and finals to deal with. But today Marinette, and the girls (that’s what she started to refer to Noémie and Adélaïde in her head) had caught up on their work, and the school semester had ended on Friday. Technically this was the perfect opportunity to spend time together and work on their relationship. Because at this point, they were barely more than legally bound roommates.

“I think that’s a great idea, Plagg,” she said, giving the black kwami a scratch on the ears.

*

A few moments later, Marinette was standing in their apartment slightly confused.

“Do you think he went out?” Tikki asked.

“I don’t know?” she puzzled. The was no evidence of Adrien in the apartment. Even the kitchen bore no sign that he had been up; the drainboard only contained her dishes from her early breakfast.

“He’s probably still in bed,” Plagg murmured grumpily. Despite his surly attitude at times, Marinette could tell that he was deeply worried about his holder.

“Adrien,” she softly called out while knocking on the master bedroom door. “Are you up?” After a few moments she decided to enter.

She was greeted by a dishevelled Adrien curled up in a ball under the blankets on the large bed, squinting his eyes and slightly frowning at the light that she had let into the room.

“You’re still in bed!” Marinette exclaimed in disbelief to which Adrien responded by groaning and turning over to face away from her.

“Are you ill?” she asked, hurrying to kneel by his side. He grunted out what could be interpreted as a negative reply. “Then what is the problem?” she asked, slightly exasperated at this point.

“Don’t want to get up,” he mumbled. Marinette raised herself to her feet, with effort, then exchanged a look of understanding with Plagg. Walking over to the other side of the room she threw open the curtains to allow the noon sun to stream through. Ignoring the hiss of complaint from Adrien, she marched over to his side and unceremoniously ripped off the layers of blankets he had cocooned himself in.

“Adrien Dupain-Cheng, you get up and get ready,” she ordered, trying to ignore the thrill of pleasure that went through her from saying his full name.

“Get ready for what?” he said in what sounded like a cross of a moan and a hiss.

“To go out for food. It’s already midday and you haven’t eaten as yet.”

“Not hungry.” Adrien curled himself into a piteous ball again and shut his eyes. Marinette was not having any of it.

Adrien felt his body jolt forward before he even realised that his pregnant wife was trying to bodily pull him out of bed. Before he could protest, he found himself half-dragged, half-carried to the bathroom while she stalked out.

Standing in a daze, he surveyed himself in the mirror. He was slouched over with bags under his eyes, hair that was greasy and outgrown as well as stubble that peppered his jawline.

_Ugh. I look and feel like crap_ , he thought, running his hands over his face and through his oily hair. Suddenly Marinette returned to the bathroom with a change of clothes in her hands.

“If you hurry and wash up, we can still make it in time for lunch,” she said. Adrien just stood there staring dumbly at the clothes that she handed him.

“ _Adrien_ ,” she said with warning in her voice, “if I have to bathe you myself it won’t be pleasant,” she threatened.

“Okay, okay,” he sighed while Marinette excused herself from the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, Marinette finished up blow-drying Adrien’s hair (which was quite grown out in her opinion, but she decided not to nag), grabbed her purse and Adrien’s murse then stood to admire her work. Her husband almost looked like a hipster with the outfit she chose out for him. His recently dried, shaggy hair was peaking out from a beanie (chosen for practical purposes for the December weather of course) and the exposed skin from his scooped necked top was covered by a stylish scarf. The rest of his ensemble was tied together by jeans and an open sweater with him wearing his glasses (another necessity) to top it all off. It was a shame that his coat would cover most of her masterpiece.

Looping her arm through his, she lead them out of their apartment on the way to a familiar café.

*

Marinette sighed in exasperation at the familiar sight before her. Adrien was sitting across from her at a table, his cheek resting in one hand while the other picked at his food with the fork.

“Do you need me to feed you too?” she heard herself impatiently ask.

“You’re welcome to,” he snapped back without thinking. Raising his eyes to meet her hurt expression, he instantly regretted his sharp tone. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “I’m just not hungry.”

“No, I’m the one who’s sorry,” Marinette reached for his hand across the table. “I’m the one who forced you out of bed to come here. It’s just that I’m really worried about you.”

“I’m…,” he couldn’t even finish the lie for himself.

“We’re both know that you’re not fine, Adrien. Please,” she pleaded, “talk to me.”

He looked into her beautiful blue-bell eyes, relieved that the accident didn’t change how they quivered a bit when she was concerned for him.

“It’s kinda hard to explain. But I—I just feel very apathetic to things these days. The only reason I got up, ate, and all that before was for work and I _had_ to do them. Now, I don’t feel motivated to do anything. It’s like there’s been this big cloud of darkness all around me and I can’t see past it. Like there’s no hope; no point to anything,” he tried to explain.

Marinette’s eyes widened in surprise. The several years they had been together had taught Adrien to be able to read her like a book, and right now he could tell that she was hurting for him, and that made him feel worse.

“I’m not sure what to tell you, Adrien. I wish that there was someway for me to soak up all your pain so that you wouldn’t have to deal with it anymore,” she spoke softly, squeezing his hand for emphasis. Adrien’s heart began to sink; he couldn’t bear to see her upset, even if it was on his behalf.

“Chaton, even if you can’t see it, I know that there is light beyond the darkness. And I want you to know that I’m going to be right by your side until it reaches you,” she assured.

For the first time that day, a soft smile found its way on Adrien’s lips. At that sight Marinette visibly relaxed, mirroring his smile, and he felt some of the tightness leave his chest. Only then he realised how Marinette must have felt that day, watching helplessly as someone they cared deeply about nearly drown in despair.

“Thank you, Bug,” he whispered, softly stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

*

Adrien eventually was convinced to eat all of his lunch to the delight of the kwamis and his wife. He had even snuck Plagg the pieces of camembert cheese from his meal in order to show his gratefulness for him suggesting to Marinette to take him out. Soon, the couple found themselves walking hand in hand out of the café to continue the rest of their weekend date, but they stopped in their tracks when they heard their names being called by another couple entering just as they were leaving.

“Marinette! Adrien!”

The duo startled at their names and turned to face the other couple. It was none other than Bridgette who had called out to them. Marinette couldn’t help but notice that she was showing more compared to the last time they saw each other in person. She was trailing a few steps behind Félix, who didn’t exactly seem pleased to see them. But honestly, when has he ever?

“Hey Brigette, Félix,” Adrien greeted as the two women embraced. Félix didn’t say anything. He just took in his cousin’s appearance, wincing slightly at the latter’s grown out hair and beanie, before giving him a cordial nod.

In the meantime, Marinette took the opportunity of the hug to whisper encouraging words to Bridgette.

“I hope it all goes well,” she said.

“Me too,” Bridgette whispered back. “I’ll text you tonight.”

At that, the two couples parted ways. The Dupain-Chengs lingered back long enough to see the barista express confusion over how Félix, whom he had obviously mistaken for Adrien, had managed to change outfits and women so quickly. Chuckling to themselves, they decided not to witness Félix’s reaction and started to head off.

The two leisurely strolled the Parisian streets taking in the Christmas decorations all around them. For the first time in a while the both of them felt lighthearted and completely relaxed in each other’s presence. Marinette was particularly thrilled about the big pick up in Adrien’s mood. _This is exactly what he needed_ , she thought to herself. As a young man who’d spent most of his childhood isolated and his teenage years detached from loving familial interactions, the recent distance between the two must have been what was pushing him into further depression. Marinette vowed to herself not to let that happen to him again.

As they continued their outing, they aimlessly wandered in and out of stores, sometimes out of curiosity, sometimes to make a Christmas-themed impulse buy. At one point during their window shopping it had even begun to snow lightly. The pair glanced upward at the sky as the soft flurries landed all around them. Even with the sky mostly grey above them, the sun was still visible, barely peaking out behind a large, dark cloud. Both Adrien and Marinette silently hoped that this was true about their situation, that though it may be grey skies around them, the sun was just peaking around the corner, ready to make itself known.

Shuffling along the sidewalks, they made no attempt at speed despite the cold. It was not so much to avoid slipping on the thin layer of snow that now sat on the ground, but more to enjoy the beauty of the city around them. Paris was extremely beautiful at night, but right then, in that moment in the mid-afternoon, it was breathtaking. The people bustled hurriedly around them in a Christmas panic, but they were almost lost in their own world, drinking in the city scenery that was newly frosted with snow and decorated with the kind of Christmas spirit that made young children believe in miracles.

Soon they found themselves trudging through the park near their parents’ bakery. Usually, the ideal date would call for them stopping for a while, but unfortunately, it was too cold to linger there for too long. Instead they decided to spend the rest of the day in the bakery, munching on desserts, and eventually helping out with other customers, before their parents insisted that they stayed for dinner.

Adrien gratefully accepted the invitation. He smiled down at his wife who was already licking her lips in the anticipation of her mother’s cooking. He couldn’t help but marvel at the stark difference between how his day started and how it ended. That morning, he had woken up as if he were drowning. He couldn’t tell how long he lay in bed, all that he knew was that it was almost as if he were stifling in listlessness. Then suddenly Marinette barged in, breaking through the foggy atmosphere that clouded his brain and brought a fresh wind of life to it.

He swore to himself to remember, that even if the next day brought the same feelings of darkness with them, he knew from today’s example that there was light waiting to burst in from around the corner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jungle Dreams is not a real anime or manga. Unless I suddenly acquire drawing skills.  
> Adélaide is younger than Marinette and Noémie is older than Marinette.  
> I wrote Adrien’s experience with depression and Marinette’s response based a bit on me and my mom. For me the light that I found (or rather, the Light that found me) was Christ. It didn’t lift my depression right away but it gave me hope in life. If you are depressed, I strongly encourage you to seek help. There is light beyond your darkness.


	12. Nightmare pt 1

A heaviness weighed on Marinette’s heart as she manoeuvred around the kitchen to prepare meals for herself, Nala and Lily. Despite the general bustle of babysitting, her mind constantly slipped back to the conversation she had earlier that day with Adrien. Well, if one could even call it a conversation. It was nothing less than a full-blown argument. The guilt over the thoughtless things she had yelled was still eating her up hours later. She hadn’t meant to throw those words at him, and they didn’t mean what he had obviously taken them to mean.

She aimlessly gnawed at end of her fork and she mulled over the what had happened in her mind. For the past few weeks, everything was going well for the both of them. They had spent a nice Christmas with her family and their friends; Marinette even had the opportunity to reacquaint herself with some of the others whom the accident had caused her to forget. Even New Years seemed to have gone well, with the both of them sharing the hope and praying that they would heal together, physically and emotionally. But now, it felt like all of the progress that they had made was shattered by a few simple words…

Marinette groaned as she flopped onto the couch after the meal. Worried, Nala made her way over to her and placed a tiny hand on her arm in concern. Marinette nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden touch; she had almost forgotten that she was not alone in the apartment.

“Aunty Netta? Are you okay?” the young child asked. Giving a weak smile, a scooped the child up in her arms and set her down next to her on the couch.

“Yes, I’m --,” Marinette cut herself off from lying. “Actually, no, I’m not okay.”

“Is your head hurting?” Nala asked, suddenly remembering the older woman being in the hospital. Marinette shook her head. “Is it the baby? Oh! Is the baby coming?” she asked excitedly. Marinette shook her head and gave a dry chuckle.

“I’m just a little sad, that’s all,” Marinette answered. “I’ll be alright soon though, so don’t worry,” she ruffled Nala’s hair affectionately. Nala’s green eyes locked her gaze for a moment as if she were trying to determine for herself whether her aunt would be alright. Silently, she moved closer to Marinette and enveloped her in a warm hug.

“Hugs make me feel better when I’m sad,” she stately simply. Marinette’s lip quivered before she bit it in an attempt to stop the tears.

“Thank you, Nala,” she whispered.

“Are you sad because of the akuma?” the child asked quietly as she broke the hug. “They kinda scare me too.”

“T-that’s part of the reason,” Marinette scratched her bare earlobes nervously. “But don’t worry, Ladybug, Chat Noir and the rest of the Miraculous team have everything under control.” Nala beamed at her.

Marinette almost felt ill at her own hypocrisy. Wasn’t it just hours before that she had flaunted her distrust of the others in Adrien’s face when she had to loan out the ladybug miraculous? Despite the relative calm in the apartment it was hard to ignore the fact that there was an akuma battle raging on on the outside. It was what had started the argument in the first place. And looking back on it, it was a really unnecessary fight. Adrien was right about –

A knock on the door startled Marinette out of her thoughts.

“That should be your uncle,” Marinette remarked. She grunted with effort as she raised herself to her feet before standing there a moment to catch her breath.

“Ooo! He’s here to take me and Lily-la to grandma’s!” Nala exclaimed in excitement. Marinette managed to shuffle to the door to let Noël into the apartment.

Soon Lily and Nala’s things were all packed away and transferred over to the redhead. Handing over Lily in the car seat, Marinette said her goodbyes to the family and warned Noël to be careful getting home with the akuma rampaging about.

Finally alone in the apartment, Marinette sunk into the couch once more. Her eyes briefly glanced over to the direction where the miracle box was being held, but she didn’t feel particularly inclined to get up (as it was becoming increasingly difficult to do so as her pregnancy progressed), and also, she kind of welcomed the silence, as it allowed her to replay the day’s earlier events in her head.

That morning started off normally, but peace was soon interrupted by both of them receiving an akuma alert of their phones. Without thinking, she had jumped into action, readying to call on her transformation, only to be narrowly stopped by Adrien, Tikki and even Plagg, who had all rushed at her like she had gone mad. In fact, those were the exactly words Adrien had used.

“Are you mad?” he had asked, incredulously, “What are you doing?”

“Transforming?” she had sassed back, a little put out at being stopped. “We need to go--.” Adrien shook his head.

“ _I_ need to go; _you_ need to stay.” At that point the weight of her not being able to be Ladybug fully hit her at his next words:

“I also need your earrings.”

“WHAT?! But I’m Ladybug!” she protested.

“You’re _pregnant,_ ” he retorted.

And that’s where things had escalated. They went back and forth for a while wasting precious minutes that could have been used in the battle. Marinette knew that he was right. But between her pregnancy hormones and her fear of not being useful in the battle, she kept being stubborn. Eventually, she had yanked her earrings out and tossed them over to Adrien.

“I didn’t ask for any of this!” she had yelled.

Only when she saw the hurt in his face, she realised how he must have interpreted her words: that she didn’t want him, or their baby.

Adrien didn’t say anything in response. He had just called on his transformation, pocketed the earrings and leapt of the window before she could apologise. A few minutes later, when Alya and Nino came over to drop their kids off for emergency babysitting before they too joined the battle, she still hadn’t recovered enough to let them know what had just happened.

Presently Marinette sighed from her spot on the couch. She had grown tired of the silence, which was becoming louder the more she dwelt on her regretful choice of words. She once more made the effort to get up, and made her way over to the box to retrieve Mullo for company. The two of them settled in front of the television to watch the newscast which was following the attack.

 _Might as well make use of my time here,_ she thought to herself. It was a good opportunity for her to learn more of how the newer akumas operated.

*

Hours later, Marinette woke up sweating from a nightmare. The television was still on in background, however, it was pitch black outside. Rising up in confusion, Marinette reach over to her phone to check the time. It was late. She also noticed that there were no messages from Adrien. Just a few from her parents and one from Noël letting her know that he and kids made it home safely. Quickly responding to them, she made her way over to her room to head to bed. The emptiness of the house made her feel strangely sad inside. Curling up with Mullo, she managed to fall into a fitful sleep once more.

*

“Ugh, I’m going to be late!” Marinette seethed behind the wheel of her car. Broiling with impatience, she shifted into a higher gear to overtake the car in front of her, swerving haphazardly back into her lane to avoid the oncoming traffic. The stress from her deadlines and projects was building up and seemed to concentrate in her foot, causing her to floor the gas pedal. Due to some weird oversight at the boutique, there were not enough supplies for her to complete a large project for an important client, so she needed to get to the store _asap_ before it closed in a few minutes.

Slowing down for a red light, Marinette was fairly bouncing up and down in her seat with anxiety. Looking, briefly in her rear-view mirror, she saw that there was no traffic behind her. Her gazed shifted to the mirror above a snoozing form in the car seat behind her and gave a small smile. Hugo was sleeping peacefully with Tikki resting by him for comfort.

Despite the peaceful scene behind her, Marinette’s anxiety spiked when she checked her watch. Only five minutes until closing! And she _had_ to get the project done tonight! Glancing around her frantically, she peered down the empty streets and cursed the infernal red light for not changing.

 _Oh well_ , she thought desperately, _no one’s around so it wouldn’t hurt if I just went right? The store is just by the corner on the left._ Taking a gulp Marinette decided to run the red light.

A car horn.

A sickening screech.

A bright light.

A baby’s wail.

A crash.

_Silence._

Then, ringing. Marinette opened her eyes, to the world blurry around her. The ringing in her ears was the only sound she heard. The rest of her body was numb. She raised herself up from where she was slumped over on the cracked window which was streaked with blood. She tried to turn around to check on Hugo and Tikki but that was nearly impossible in the mangled car. She called out but she heard no sound coming from her voice. Then, in the distance, she faintly heard sirens as her eyes shut against her will…

She felt herself lying on her back in an unfamiliar bed. For how long? She wasn’t sure. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut in an attempt to concentrate.

 _What the heck?_ she thought to herself. _Where am I?_ her thoughts were frustratingly slow in providing answers so she forced her eyes fully open instead.

_Bright. Too bright._

Her eyes squinted and watered reflexively just as she became more aware of her surroundings. Tentatively, she slowly opened her eyes again.

 _Where the heck am I?_ Marinette took in her surroundings slowly, moving her head as little as possible because… well because it hurt like the dickens. Then realisation washed over her.

 _I am in the hospital_.

Guilt sat on her stomach like a rock when she realised where her reckless actions had landed her. She felt herself sinking in despair under its weight. Where was Hugo? Where was Tikki? Where was Adrien?

Just then, a noise coming from her left startled her. She tried to speak up but again she was voiceless.

“How is my wife doing?” she heard Adrien ask a nurse.

“Still in a coma, Mr. Agreste,” was the response.

Marinette tried to yell out to catch their attention, but nothing came out.

“And my son?” Adrien asked.

“I’m sorry, sir…” the nurse started to say.

Marinette watched as Adrien’s head dropped to his chest. She tried to scream and shout out to them, but in the end, she was left crying silent tears.

“No… no… no!” she was mouthing to herself. Another noise started to catch her attention during her hysterics.

“Marinette! Wake up!”

Marinette blinked in confusion as the hospital scene morphed into her dark bedroom.

“Marinette? Are you okay?” Mullo’s squeaky voice sounded from beside her.

Taking several deep breaths to calm herself Marinette wiped away the tears from her eyes before responding.

“J-just a bad nightmare, that’s all,” she said. Turning on the lamplight she was surprised how her hands still shook. It was just a nightmare but it felt so _real_. Mullo sympathetically flew to her side in an attempt to comfort her. Marinette accepted the hug gratefully.

Not wanting to go back to sleep as yet, she slipped out to the bathroom to empty her bladder. Looking at herself in the mirror, she touched her bulging stomach apprehensively. Well into her third trimester of pregnancy, it stood out proud and prominent.

_It’s okay_ , she thought, _he’s still in there_. She wrapped her arms around herself and shuddered as she felt the tears starting to spring again in her eyes. She needed to find a way to calm herself down.

Heading out of the bathroom, Marinette decided to get a glass of milk before heading back to bed. However, as she reached the kitchen doorway and froze, because standing there, with his back turned and leaning over slightly with his hand planted on either side of the sink, was Adrien.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry not sorry, but I think that drinking a plain glass of milk is gross. But it’s a thing apparently, and I may be in the minority.  
> I didn’t forget that it’s Adrien Dupain-Cheng. Her recollection of facts is distorted because it’s a dream.


	13. Nightmare pt 2

“Ugh, I’m going to be late!” Adrien seethed behind the wheel of his car. Broiling with impatience, he shifted into a higher gear to overtake the car in front of him, swerving haphazardly back into his lane to avoid the oncoming traffic. The stress from his deadlines and projects was building up and seemed to concentrate in his foot, causing him to floor the gas pedal. Due to some weird oversight in the university scheduling, he was supposed to be administering a final on what was supposed to be his day off, even though it was a weekend, so he needed to get to the school _asap_ before the exam started in a few minutes.

He spotted the traffic light up ahead turning amber. Panicking about losing time, he decided to make a rash decision and gunned the gas. Briefly scanning the intersection he was rocketing toward, he saw no sign of any stopped traffic waiting for the light to turn green. This slightly mitigated the guilt he felt about knowingly running a red light. In just a few seconds he would be in the clear…

A car horn.

A sickening screech.

A bright light.

A crash.

_Silence._

Adrien’s blurred vision slowly cleared up to observe the scene before him. It was bloody chaos. It looked like some car appeared out of nowhere to turn left, just as he was crossing the intersection.

 _Crap_ , he thought to himself as he got out of the car, _This is bad_. As he approached the car he had just T-boned, a funny feeling settled in his stomach. It was oddly familiar. Like someone he knew drove that car. Like someone he loved could still be in there…

Time seemed to slow down as the he froze near the driver’s door. There, with head bleeding, was Marinette, slumped unconscious on the window. The approaching sirens sounded worlds away as a wave of numbness washed over his body. All he could do was stand there as emergency personnel rushed past him to tend to his pregnant wife. As her limp body was transferred to the gurney, he made an attempt to call out, but dread choked his voice.

“Adrien,” a faraway voice whispered.

He turned around to look for its owner but found that he was standing alone in the abandoned streets.

“ _Adrien_ ,” it called out again. He couldn’t reply with his lost voice, but kept looking around him frantically for its source.

“Adrien! Adrien! Wake up!”

Adrien startled awake to find himself in his dark bedroom staring into a pair of floating, florescent green eyes. Despite the cold temperatures, he was sweating profusely.

“Plagg?” he called out.

“You okay, kid?” his kwami questioned, concerned.

“Yeah,” Adrien replied. “Just another nightmare.”

“I don’t think it was _just_ another nightmare,” Plagg stated. “The blast from that that nightmare akuma you guys fought may brought up some stuff that could affect your regular dreams.”

“Yeah,” Adrien mumbled, “You’re probably right.”

After the miraculous team had finished with their relatively short (lasting only a day), yet emotionally draining fight, Adrien had returned home with Plagg and Tikki and they all crashed immediately. Now, sitting up awake in his bed, he still felt exhausted, yet he didn’t want to go back to sleep. Rather, he was _afraid_ to go back to sleep.

Groaning, he pushed his bangs back and threw off the covers. _Jeez, I could use a haircut_ , he thought to himself. Finding, a spare hair tie, he fixed his hair into a low ponytail before heading to the door. Sensing his movements, Plagg zipped up to accompany him before Adrien held up his hand.

“I just need a few minutes to myself,” he said, his hand over his face. Understanding, Plagg quietly backed off to where Tikki was sleeping.

Heading over the kitchen, he poured himself a glass of milk. Before he could even take a sip, the tears started spill from his eyes. Setting the glass down, he braced himself over the sink, shoulders heaving with his silent sobbing.

*

He stayed in his position for a few moments after he composed himself. Before he could wipe his eyes, however, a small sound behind him caught his attention. Instinctively, he flinched and spun around, only to find, to his surprise, Marinette standing in the door frame of the kitchen. She looked just as surprised to see him up as he was to see her.

The pain of their conversation the day before hit him afresh, but instead of confronting the issue, he decided to squash his feelings inside him.

“Hey. Couldn’t sleep?” he tried to sound casual.

“No,” she answered in a small voice. “I had a bad dream.”

 _Figures_ , he thought to himself. Out loud he hummed before responding, “same.”

After a few moments of awkward silence, Marinette decided to speak up again.

“Look, Adrien, about before… I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean what I said.”

“Oh really? What _did_ you mean?” he couldn’t hide the hurt in his voice. He leaned back against the sink counter crossing his arms. Settling down on one of the bar stools, Marinette sighed before answering.

“I meant that I didn’t ask to be useless during battle. I didn’t ask to be injured so that I couldn’t remember how our team functioned against La Farfella.”

At this point neither of them were looking at each other. Marinette was unsure whether her words were enough to assuage his doubts, while Adrien was unsure whether what she had said was completely true. He was so wrapped up in stewing in his thoughts that he didn’t notice Marinette moving from her spot until she was right in front of him.

“Adrien,” she said startling him. “I love you.” She took his hands in hers and looked deep into his eyes.

“This goes far beyond my old crush on you. This is something right here and now. Memory or no memory,” she continued. “I love you and I want you. I couldn’t ask for a better husband. And, yes, even though it was scary for me to think about at first, I am happy to be pregnant,” she blushed.

For the second time that night, Adrien felt the tears forming in his eyes. He had always been a physically needy person, but Marinette’s words warmed his heart better than any hug could at that moment.

“I’m sorry for doubting you, ma lady,” he whispered, leaning down to give her an actual hug.

“I’m sorry for arguing with you. You were right,” she responded. Before he could say anything else, she used his slightly bent over position as an opportunity to kiss him. This caught him off guard at first, but he soon melted in her embrace. How long was it since he had kissed him like this? He almost forgot the feeling of her soft lips on his.

The kiss, though chaste, brought heat to Adrien’s cheeks and flutters to his heart. When they broke apart, he couldn’t help cradling her in his arms to savour the remnants of the moment.

*

Entering the master bedroom, Marinette’s heart skipped a bit. She climbed into the bed and was immediately caught up in Adrien’s scent which she inhaled deeply. After enjoying a glass of milk together, the two of them decided that maybe going to bed together would help ward off the nightmares. It was highly doubtful whether that was the only intention for both parties, but the two figured that the company would be nice. So, Adrien stayed in the kitchen to deal with the glasses while she headed to bed first.

Marinette’s eyes grew heavy as she waited for Adrien, only for them to snap open when she realised that he was standing over her with his arms crossed. She hadn’t even heard him enter the room.

“What’s wrong?” she sleepily mumbled.

“That’s my side of the bed,” he lifted one of his arms to sassily point at the spot where she had nestled comfortably.

“And?”

“I want to sleep on my side.”

“The other side is cold,” she complained.

“Because it’s not my side.” Groaning, Marinette elected to ignore him by turning her back on him.

Trying to suppress her giggles, she heard him scoff. However, she was caught by surprise when he climbed in the bed on ‘his side’ and physically scooched her over until he had enough space to lie comfortably.

Turning over again, Marinette found herself facing Adrien’s back as he contently snuggled deeper in the sheets. She tried snuggling up as close as she could, and shifted her hands from his shoulders, to his back, to his waist, then back to his shoulders again.

“What on earth are you doing?” Adrien asked.

“I am trying to spoon you,” Marinette replied, somewhat frustratedly.

“Pfft,” Adrien snorted. “It’s gonna be kinda hard with Hugo in the middle.”

“Yeah,” Marinette chuckled along with him. “It’s more like a group hug at this point.”

Suddenly, Adrien shifted around to face her and pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her.

“Here,” he said. “Now it more like a group hug.”

Blushing, Marinette reciprocated his actions before eventually dozing off to sleep.

*

Marinette’s bladder woke her up the next day. Ignoring it for a little while, she lay in bed a bit disoriented. She stirred in her half-awake state before realising that she was not alone in the bed. Blinking her bleary eyes open, she was surprised to find her vision filled with blond hair. Her heart skipped several beats before she remembered what had happened the night before: the conversation she shared with Adrien and how she had kissed him, determined not to hold back on showing him affection.

Gazing tenderly at her husband, she softly stroked the arm wrapped around her midsection as she soaked up the moment. Soon, the risk of wetting the bed skyrocketed and she had to wriggle out of his grasp to make it to the bathroom.

When she exited, Tikki flew in to meet her in the kitchen where they caught up on the akuma battle and the progress in Marinette and Adrien’s relationship. A few minutes later, a sleepy Adrien stumbled into the kitchen, yawning and scratching his stomach.

“G’morning,” he mumbled, making his way over to her. He leaned over to press a kiss to her cheek, but she expertly manoeuvred herself to catch his lips instead, snapping him fully awake. He smiled into the kiss and instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist.

“It _is_ a good morning now,” Marinette replied cheekily when they pulled apart. Giving him a quick hug she asked, “how did you sleep last night?”

“Better with you by my side, Bugaboo,” he said, leaning down to peck her lips one more time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve had university finals before on a Saturday night. It sucked.
> 
> Me: *adjusts glasses*I employed the use of parallelism as a literary device to highlight the differences between actual reality and the constructed reality of a dream, and character interactions before and after a critical point in the narrative  
> Them: You lazy so you copy-paste  
> Me: I lazy so I copy-paste
> 
> The akuma affected Marinette as well but after it was cleansed, she just had a plain nightmare.
> 
> I know the fear of not wanting to go back to sleep when you’ve had a nightmare. It really sucks. When I was a child I used to ask my parents to wake me up in the middle of the night if they came to check on me, just in case I was having a nightmare.


	14. Advice

“Girl, you said it’s been how long since you went to your mom for advice about this?” Alya questioned her best friend.

With cheeks blazing, Marinette rested her head on the restaurant table and groaned. “Around two weeks,” she grumbled. Alya clucked her tongue in disapproval.

“And nothing has happened between you and Adrien as yet? Look, I don’t know what kind of libido-killing pregnancy vitamins you’re taking…,” she mumbled into her glass of water.

“Shhh, Alya! Lower your voice! It’s embarrassing enough I’m going to people asking advice about this!” Marinette’s head shot up as she whisper-shouted to her friend.

“Good thing Kagami isn’t here then,” she retorted. Marinette raised her eyebrow at that. “I’m not sure you’d remember but, Kagami can be worse than me sometimes.”

“Uh-huh.” Unconvinced, Marinette continued eating her lunch.

“It’s true!” Alya protested. “She’s really… blunt.”

Alya soon switched back to the topic. “Have you ever just talked to Adrien about not waiting until the baby was born to – you know?”

Marinette paused from eating momentarily to give her a look.

“Right, I forgot that it’s you we’re talking about,” Alya sighed.

“Anyway, your mom’s advice about starting from scratch and rekindling the romance in small ways is pretty good. But you can’t just leave it there, it’s meant to be a starting point. Now you’ve got to kick it into high gear with some next level seduction,” she leaned forward with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

 _Uh oh_.

Marinette internally wondered if she was ready to follow Alya’s impending suggestions. Her mom’s gentle, PG-rated encouragement was a piece of cake to carry out. But Alya? She tended to be spicier, and Marinette had the feeling that she would be expected to be more _proactive_ about the whole situation, which she wasn’t sure she could pull off at this point. Even after a few months of adjusting to this reality of being married, she still felt shy about certain things.

Like the time she accidently walked in on Adrien in the bathroom just after he had gotten out of the shower. He was standing there, in all his sunshine glory, without a care in the world, brushing his teeth in the mirror. His towel was around his _shoulders_ of all places. Marinette had eeped before quickly covering her eyes. And Adrien, being the little tease that he was, had the nerve to turn to fully face her and ask what was wrong.

“I-I, uh, I have to use the t-toilet!” she had squeaked out.

“Toilet’s free,” he nonchalantly gestured to it before returning to finish brushing his teeth.

If she didn’t have to go urgently, she would have just left, but she stood her ground.

“It helps if I go in private,” she choked out.

“If you say so,” he had responded. “I’m done in here anyhow.” And with that, he had turned toward her again to walk out of the restroom, all the while smirking because he had caught her peeping through her fingers when his back was turned. He took his time as he approached her with his model gait.

“ThanksbutIreallygottagobye!” she fairly pushed him out the rest of the way out of the room before she wet herself or worse, suffered from a nosebleed. She had slammed the door shut before calling out to him:

“And cover up! The curtains are open!” She guessed them sharing a room again after a while had caused him to revert to his comfortable ways around her, not that she completely minded.

Marinette felt a bit pathetic as she zoned back into her conversation with Alya. Even though she had felt like such a spaz then, the feelings of wanting her husband still remained, even if she was kind of a coward about it.

“And lastly, your body is a weapon, so use it to slay him!” Alya concluded with a flare.

“Ah, I don’t feel like I’ve got the right artillery right now,” Marinette sighed. “My body feels more like an incubator if you ask me.”

“I didn’t,” Alya deadpanned. “To a real man, nothing is sexier than the woman he loves carrying his baby,” she tried immediately to crush her friend’s negative views of her body. “Or that’s what Nino told me.”

Marinette laughed at that. “Thanks, Alya. I’ll take your advice, and hopefully that’s enough to make even Adrien realise that I’m ready.”

*

“Seriously? All this time and still nothing?” Alya exasperatedly questioned her friend weeks later.

“Well, yes, but no,” Marinette tried to explain. Sitting across from her in her now favourite café, Alya and Kagami raised their eyebrows for an explanation.

“You see, we’re a _lot_ closer now. Much more than before. And I’m way more comfortable around him,” Marinette pointed out.

“Not close enough apparently,” Alya remarked sarcastically as she bit into her English muffin.

“He’s just really oblivious okay!” Marinette protested.

Kagami, who had been mostly quiet during the exchange, and even before when they explained her amnesiac friend’s dilemma to her, decided that now was the time to speak up. She set her glass of orange juice down with a resounding _clink_ which caught the attention of her friends, and maybe a few café patrons nearby.

“Why don’t you just jump him then?” she asked bluntly.

At this, Marinette spewed out her tea and Alya swallowed a chunk of her muffin without chewing. Kagami waited patiently, sipping her juice, while her friends simultaneously choked and sputtered over their brunch.

“ _Kagami!_ ” Marinette hissed. “People can hear you!”

“I told you she was worse than me,” Alya rasped out, still not fully recovered from the food stuck in her throat. Giving her a few deft wacks on the back to dislodge it, Kagami continued:

“I’m being serious. Whenever I want Luka to—,”

“DON’T,” Alya interrupted, before she took a swig of water. “Don’t finish that sentence!” knowing fully well what her friend was capable of saying.

“I’m just saying,” she smirked into her glass of juice, “I never hesitate.”

“Yeah,” Alya’s voice was still a little shaky. “You made that clear when we asked about your honeymoon that time.”

Curious, Marinette was about to ask before she though better of it.

“Poor Juleka was traumatised,” Alya added, sensing her friend’s curiosity.

“Listen, all I’m saying is that she needs to directly approach Adrien so that she could get a clear answer. If he’s fine with it, which I can’t see why he wouldn’t be, you’ll know. And if he wants to stick with the original plan, you’ll know. Just go for it,” Kagami advised.

Contemplating her words, Marinette could see that she had a valid point.

“She’s right, y’now,” Alya spoke up. “Think of it as another stepping stone. You followed your mom’s advice, then mine, and know it’s time to try Kagami’s.”

Taking a deep breath Marinette spoke with confidence, “You’re right. I can do this.”

*

Completely devoid of confidence, Marinette plopped herself on the foot of the bed, “I can’t do this.” She was in the middle of dressing after her shower and had paused to examine herself in the mirror. She had gotten _big_.

 _There is no way that Adrien would be ‘slayed’ with a body like this_ , she sighed to herself. She felt like this assumption was valid based on the past few weeks of failed seduction. Even though they had become much more comfortable with each other, even to the point where Adrien took over Tikki’s position in helping her film the pregnancy progress videos, he still treated her like an unwed virgin whose honour he did not want to taint.

Resigning herself to defeat, Marinette fished out the most matronly nightgown she could find and began dressing herself.

“Marinette, have you seen my glasses? I think I left them--,” Adrien burst into the bedroom just as Marinette was pulling the nightie over her head.

“O-oops, sorry,” he apologised before starting to retreat.

“It’s okay, you can come in,” Marinette finished dressing then sank back down on the edge of the bed and stared off into space.

At this point Marinette’s mood was already down and Adrien picked up on this.

“What’s wrong, Bugaboo?” he asked, concerned.

“Ah, it’s nothing,” Marinette sighed. Adrien sat next to her on the bed, and wrapped his arm around her.

“You sure?” he questioned.

“Yeah,” Marinette replied. “It’s just that my body’s been a bit sluggish lately. And all my clothes now are as big as tents. Which is fitting seeing that I’m like a whale now. Not to mention that I haven’t seen my toes since—,” Marinette’s self-deprecating rant was cut off by Adrien placing a searing kiss to her lips.

They stayed like that for a while, with Adrien kissing her more passionately and intensely than Marinette could recall, until they both had to come up for air. While Marinette sat dazedly on the bed, Adrien quickly shifted his position so that he was standing over her with his hands planted on either side of her hips.

“I’ve tried for so long to hold it in and wait until after the baby was born,” Adrien’s voice was low and husky with desire. “But you’ve been making it so difficult for me recently…” His breath tickled her skin as his nipped incessantly at her ear and neck.

“A-adrien—,” she mumbled. Marinette truly felt like a fool for doubting Adrien and taking a round about way to approach him. Kagami was right all along. She decided to let go of her doubts and insecurities and live in the moment as she placed one hand over his racing heart while the other looped around his neck.

It was after a few more breathless kisses when the akuma alarm went off on their phones. Startled, the couple separated at the noise. Another low sound caught Marinette’s attention before she realised what it was. _Adrien was growling_. He tossed a feral look of disgust in the direction of the phones before leaning back in to kiss his wife.

“Wait, Adrien,” Marinette protested, placing her hands over his lips in attempt to stop him. “What about the akuma?”

“It can wait,” was his simple reply as he caught hold of her hands and began to kiss the inside of her wrists.

“Adrien,” Marinette said firmly, catching his attention. He let go her hand in disappointment and sighed like the world was ending. “The sooner you go out to defeat the akuma, the sooner we can get back to this,” she said in a gentler tone. He soon realised that she was right. It would be better to leave now before things actually got started.

“Promise?” he asked, dropping his head on her shoulder like a child.

“Promise,” she said, affectionately patting his hair.

In no time, he was jumping out the window, fully transformed with her earrings in tow, while Marinette collapsed back unto the bed with her face as red as a tomato.

*

She didn’t know how or when she fell asleep, but the sunlight barely filtering through the window curtains greeted Marinette as she got out of bed the next day. Yawning and stretching, she looked around, only to realise that she’d slept on Adrien’s side of the bed; something that he would never allow if he had gotten home that night. Sighing, she concluded that he must still be out fighting the akuma.

After dressing, she made her way to the kitchen, where she was surprised to find Adrien sitting at the table, tiredly sipping coffee.

“When did you get back?” she asked.

“Almost an hour ago,” he replied. Marinette’s heart went out to him in his exhausted state.

“You poor thing! How did it go last night?”

The two casually chatted about the previous night’s battle while they ate their breakfast. As they were finishing up, a thought suddenly crossed Marinette’s mind.

“Are you going straight to work after being up all night fighting?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Adrien responded. “I technically don’t have to go in ‘til noon, but I wanted to get a head start on checking the midterms that the TAs marked so I can relax for the rest of the weekend.”

Rising from her seat, Marinette sauntered, or at least tried to saunter, over to Adrien. She had made in her mind about this, and she wasn’t going to back down now, especially since she knew what Adrien’s thought were.

“I think you should stay home and rest for a bit,” she said, dropping her voice. “It’s still early.”

“Hmm?” Adrien did not catch on to what was happening at first. “I know, but I already had my coffee…,” he trailed off when Marinette sat in his lap and started to run her hands up and down his shoulders.

“Well, maybe I can be convinced to go in later,” he gave her his signature Chat Noir smirk, which made her heart skip a beat.

“I’ll see what I can manage,” Marinette cheekily responded as she began to loosen his tie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> O///O my hand slipped


	15. Baby

Adrien was still sitting in his chair at the kitchen table as he watched Marinette pace up and down the room.

“Bugaboo?” he called out to her, “Are you okay?”

“No,” Marinette stopped pacing to cover her face with her hands. “I’m so embarrassed.”

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” Adrien chuckled good naturedly. “Your water was going to break at some point.”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t supposed to break just then! I’m supposed to have another week or so! And now your pants are all ruined…,” she trailed off as a contraction seized her body. Rising up from his seat, Adrien rushed over to her side to hold her. She rested her head on his chest while he cradled her as she breathed through the contraction. When it had passed, she continued to lean her head on his chest taking in how his tie hung loosely around his neck. She idly fingered one of the last few buttons on his shirt that she didn’t even get the chance to undo before her labour suddenly started.

Sighing, she took a step back from him and took his hands in her own.

“Are you ready to do this, Chaton?” she asked looking up at him.

Adrien gave her a soft smile in return.

“Ready.”

*

“Let’s not do that again anytime soon,” Marinette complained as she clutched baby Hugo to her chest.

Adrien and her parents laughed.

“You did good, Bugaboo,” Adrien praised her, placing gentle kiss to her forehead.

“Mhmm,” she mumbled tiredly. Truth be told, all members of the Dupain-Cheng family were exhausted. Especially Marinette, who was in labour for almost a full day. After giving birth around midnight the day after her contractions started, it was no wonder she started to drift off to sleep while she was nursing Hugo. When she finished, Adrien gently took his son from her arms to burp him while Sabine made sure that Marinette was comfortable.

Adrien smiled down in pride at Hugo, gently stroking his cheek as the latter soon fell asleep as well. The last few hours were a whirlwind, and for a brief moment, dark thoughts had begun to cloud him. The thought of not being fit to be a father had crossed his mind and niggled at the inner peace that he had worked so hard to build up over the last few months after the accident. Thankfully, hope and light burst in when Marinette’s parents arrived at the hospital. Tom especially was a great help to him during that time. Showing him an example of what a good father is actually supposed to be like. He now felt like he could make it through, especially with all the loved ones at his side. Now as he held his son in his arms, he couldn’t help the quiet prayers he murmured, vowing to be the father to Hugo that Gabriel never was to him.

Looking at baby Hugo, it was hard to tell who he took after the most. But it was clear that he had Adrien’s sparkling green eyes. But, it looked like he inherited Marinette’s dark hair, going by the small tuft on top of his head. Either way he was fawned over equally by both parents. Not to mention his grandparent’s and great-grandparents and numerous ‘aunt’s’ and ‘uncles’. From the very beginning he was surrounding by loving and supportive network and Adrien knew that despite the uncertainty of the future, they would all be just fine.

*

“Who knew he’d be so wrinkly?”

Alya elbowed her husband for his thoughtless comment before scooping Hugo up in her arms.

“I think he’s beautiful. And he’s mine now!” Alya said as she cooed at her new godson.

“You better watch her before she actually makes a run for it,” Nino warned the new parents. Adrien and Marinette laughed.

“Well, technically I did owe her my firstborn since collège…” Marinette started.

“Oh, yeah,” Alya chortled as she reminisced, “the cellphone incident.”

“Cellphone incident?” Adrien and Nino looked at each other in confusion.

“One of the _many_ cellphone incidents,” Alya emphasised while Marinette groaned in embarrassment.

“I’m sure it’ll make a good bedtime story one day, yeah?” Alya slyly remarked as she brought Hugo up to meet Lily, who was strapped to her father’s chest in her carrier.

The babies locked eyes for a while trying to process each other’s presence. Eventually Lily blinked her doe-like eyes, now darkened from grey to hazel, before turning away from Hugo in boredom. The latter continued to stare even as he was fussed over by Alya.

As the new mothers were distracted by their children, Nino took Adrien to the side to speak to him in private.

“So, how’re you holding up, dude?” he asked in concern for his friend’s mental state.

“I’m – I’m doing okay… at least right now,” Adrien confessed. “It got pretty dark a couple of hours ago though.”

Nino gave him a sympathetic look but let him continue.

“I wasn’t sure I could do this, ya know? Take responsible to raise another human being, while working and being a hero. Especially when I feel like I can barely take care of myself, at this point, not to mention Marinette.” He took a deep breath, “I wonder sometimes if I’m gonna end up like Gabri—,”

Nino cut Adrien off by physically covering his mouth with his own hand.

“Do _not_ mention that **[ _redacted_ ]**’s name out loud,” he seethed, his voice barely above a whisper. Initially startled, Adrien looked deep into his best friend’s eyes to see not only hatred at the mention of his father’s name, but also concern and sadness, all for his behalf.

“You are nothing like that bastard!” he encouraged, “You are Adrien and Chat noir; Paris’ defender and the best bro out there.”

“Bro…,” Adrien pulled him into a hug as the tears flowed down his face.

“Also, whenever you feel overwhelmed, Alya and I are always available for babysitting,” Nino said.

Pulling away, Adrien quirked his eyebrow at him.

“Really, dude? You have two kids. One of them is still an infant,” Adrien questioned skeptically.

“Ah, we’ll just dump them all on Luka,” Nino shrugged carelessly. “He could use the practice before it’s his turn. I’m sure he’ll rack up those XP points pretty quickly.”

The both of them laughed as they made their way back to their wives. Adrien feeling significantly lighter knowing that he had great friends he could rely on.

*

Several weeks later, Adrien and Marinette were settling into their lives as new parents.

“I think he looks like you more,” Adrien commented, tilting his head to the side as he examined his son drifting asleep in his crib.

“Really?” Marinette responded. “I just can’t get past the fact that he has your eyes,” she reached down and gently caressed his face in a way as not to disturb him. “Those sparkling, emerald green eyes, full warmth which draw you in each time you catch a glimpse…,” she trailed off as she just happened to lock eyes with her husband. He was gazing at her tenderly, and if by instinct, her hand moved from her son’s cheek to caress her husband’s.

He playfully nuzzled into her touch just like a cat would as Marinette continued to stoke his face and eventually run her fingers through his hair.

“You were saying?” Adrien smirked at her.

“I love you,” she stated simply.

Adrien’s heart fluttered at those blessed three words. His initial soft gaze turned passionate, fiery with desire for her as he cupped the hand that was on his face and drew it down to his lips to place a lingering kiss on it.

“I love you, too, Marinette,” he said dropping his voice.

Marinette felt a thrill of excitement (and nervousness) pass through her body under his gaze. He continued to kiss and nip at her wrist while staring at her with those hungry eyes that she couldn’t look away from.

And _didn’t_ look away from for the rest of the night they spent together.

*

Marinette woke up the next morning to Adrien entering their bedroom with a breakfast tray in his hand.

“Morning, Bugaboo,” he greeted her with a kiss.

“Morning,” she sleepily replied. “What time is it?”

“Pretty late,” Adrien responded. Marinette’s eyes bugged but Adrien interrupted her before she flew out of bed.

“Relax, I already fed and took care of Hugo. Plagg and Tikki are with him now.” Marinette breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that. “I figured that after keeping you up last night, you deserved to sleep in,” Adrien scratched his neck.

Marinette flushed deep red at his implication and at the memories from the night before. All the fears and insecurities she had in the weeks before Hugo’s birth that caused her to waver in resolve, all were swallowed up in the fact that Adrien loved her. And boy did he _ever_. He was passionate but yet considerate of her, not to mention patient, keeping in mind that it was several months since he had last embraced his wife. The strangest thing of all was how familiar being held by her husband felt, despite having no previous recollection of it.

Adrien placing the tray of food over her drew Marinette out of her thoughts and into the present.

“Here, have some breakfast. You must be hungry,” he said.

“Not as much as you were last night,” Marinette cheekily remarked.

Adrien coloured a bit, but managed to fluster her more with his response.

“And I could still go for seconds,” he growled as he leaned over to nibble at her bare shoulder.

Marinette laughed and playfully swatted his chest but gave him an appreciative smile.

“I’ll think about it after breakfast,” she said placing a kiss on his cheek. “Thanks for this.”

Adrien beamed his sunshiny smile at her before going to check on Hugo.

*

While Marinette was in the shower, Adrien started to do the dishes… and some thinking.

Both of them had come a long way since Marinette’s accident last fall. Now it was in the Spring and a lot happened since then. He went from not knowing whether his wife and unborn son would survive to being able to spend happy mornings like this with them. In the back of his mind he was always worried that something major would happen to one of them, just by nature of them being superheroes. He never once suspected that something non-supernatural, nonmagical… something like a car accident would threaten almost everything that he now held dear to him.

But somehow those grueling six months came and went. At the time they felt tortuous, like a mountain or a brick wall you faced that was impossible to scale so the only option was to stare at it in despair. Part of the reason was likely that he didn’t know when it would all be over. Even now, he could tell that this was something that would never leave them. After all, _ten years of her life were stolen from her._

But looking back, Adrien knew that the worst of it was over. They were stronger for it. If anyone would’ve even suggested back then that these trials were a test to make them stronger he would have socked them in the jaw. But whether or not it was a test, he didn’t care to know, for the fact remained that they _were_ stronger for it.

Adrien startled out of his thoughts when he felt Marinette’s arms slink around his waist from behind to give him a hug.

“Deep in thought?” she mumbled into his back.

“Mhmm.” He dried his hands, then shifted around to hug her properly. “Just thinking about how much I love you. And that I’m glad you’re here with me.”

“Adrien–,” before Marinette could ask about his mental health, he placed a soft kiss on her eyelid, forcing her into an awkward wink.

“I’m okay, Bugaboo,” he reassured her. “We’re all okay now.”

_Fin._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was fun. I appreciate you all for taking the time out to read and especially comment each week. Posting this fic really gave me something to look forward to every week and would be a sort of pick-me-up. God bless yall.


	16. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't say I never got you anything for Christmas :)

Hugo Thomas Dupain-Cheng was a happy baby. Sure, even at 19 months he could tell that life wasn’t perfect, but he still knew that he was very blessed. However, he felt that changes were on the horizon for him and his family.

For one thing, his mommy was feeding him with that horrid bottle more and more instead of feeding him herself. Okay, the bottle wasn’t bad at all, in fact he actually enjoyed it, but he much preferred his mommy to feed him herself. Even when she started to introduce those colourful foods to him over a year ago with the variety of interesting (sometimes unpalatable) flavours, he still preferred his momma’s feedings. This he made clear to her more often than not, with their sparring sessions either ending in him accepting the bottle in grumpy tears of defeat or his momma begrudgingly feeding him, in her own grumpy tears of defeat.

Despite that, he still loved his mommy. And his daddy too. After not seeing him for a good portion of the day, his dad always made his way over to him (after kissing mommy, of course) and blowing raspberry kisses all over his face, much to Hugo’s delight. His fisted his father’s blond hair gleefully when he was bounced over his head.

Suddenly, his father’s hold on him shifted, and Hugo felt himself being turned away from daddy, while the latter sniffed his backside. Grimacing, his father carted him off to the nursery to be changed.

After receiving a fresh diaper and some tummy tickles, Hugo gazed up mirthfully at his dad. For some reason he felt very blessed and grateful to have such a kind man as his dad. After several failed attempts to swipe his father’s glasses, he started to suspect that he was being toyed with, he decided to settle being carried out to the kitchen for family meal time.

Sitting in his highchair like a king on his throne, he stared down discontentedly at the food mommy placed out before him. No, he wasn’t in the mood to find out if he’d like the orange mush today. Before he could throw a proper fit, his mommy’s red fairy came into his line of vision and picked up his utensils with food at the end. Urging him with her high voice to try it, he reverently obeyed. Despite having the same taste all the time, he decided to like the orange mush today.

“Pagg! Pagg!” he called, wanting his flying black kitty to play with him. ‘Pagg’, the name of his lazy black kitty, was Hugo’s first word, much to his mommy and daddy’s chagrin. His mommy handed him his black stuffed animal that looked a lot like ‘Pagg’ but wasn’t ‘Pagg’. Hugo decided to content himself with playing with the imposter for the time being.

That was another change that was happening. He was seeing his kitty less and less, and even mommy’s fairy made fewer appearances around him. Instead, when he called for them, he was often handed their replicas. But one thing he could count on was that they always watched over him in his crib while he slept. The red fairy was often on a shelf looking over him in his crib, but his kitty always nestled in his dark hair to sleep with him.

When it was bedtime, after his mommy put him in his crib, his daddy slipped into his room for a final good night. After giving Hugo his goodnight kiss, his dad lingered in his room for a while, chatting aimlessly to him as if he fully understood what he was saying. He had made this his habit of always spending a set apart amount of time with him. This practice would continue for years to come and Hugo always treasured this special time with his father.

After his daddy had departed, Hugo was left with “Pagg” and his mommy’s fairy to keep him company for the night. He reflected (at least to the best of his ability) on the things his daddy was telling him. He had used words like “family” and “baby” a lot. He was familiar with those words; he had heard them used a lot when Aunty Gami and Uncle Luka brought a new friend to his circle. The newcomer was small, even smaller than Hugo and that was saying something. Lily-la, his other friend, was bigger than him, so it was interesting when this new friend, this “baby”, that was brought over to play was smaller.

But, his father had also used another word that he wasn’t too familiar with: “sister”. Hugo wondered what that meant. He didn’t ponder on it for too long before he was overcome with sleepiness. Satisfied that he’ll find out what his dad meant soon enough, he fell into a peaceful slumber, preparing to awake to another blissful day with his wonderful family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the mind of Hugo, Tikki belongs to his mom, while Plagg is his.  
> When Hugo was born, he became Plagg’s favourite spot. Even when he got older and his parents tried to limit his interactions with the kwamis, Plagg would often sneak in to check on him.


End file.
